ButtonDown.Com: Out Today: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring

 ButtonDown.Com: Out Today: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring

Publication Day Review: River Deep: A Bitterfrost Thriller by Bryan Gruley

River Deep: A Bitterfrost Thriller by Bryan Gruley takes readers back to the town of Bitterfrost on the shore of Lake Michigan. Like the first book of the series, Bitterfrost, this new book is also marketed as a “thriller.” This reader would label it a “mystery.” Regardless of label, this second book in the series lives up to the very good first read in every aspect.

 

Before going further, I am being very careful not to reveal background details here that tie into that first book. Like in his other series, this second book should be read after reading the first book. Some storylines continue,  characters develop, things have happened because of the first book, etc. Read in order.

 

There are repercussions and unfinished business from the first book as River Deep begins. The glory of hockey is back in this read as is another major trial. Devyn Payne has returned full time, at least for now, to her roots. A former criminal defense lawyer, she has her reasons for coming home, and going to work as a prosecutor. It was supposed to make her life easier.

 

So much for that idea. Tragedy has again struck. She is standing on a dark and cold riverbank watching late one night as a crane pulls a SUV from the frigid river waters. The river, the Jako, leads into Lake Michigan. It has taken two lives this night—twin boys that will not see their first birthday.

 

That cold river water barely released the parents back to dry ground. Catriona Delaney is on a medical helicopter headed to Grand Rapids. The father, Sammy Hardt, fared better in the crash into the river, and is in decent shape, all things considered. He apparently got Catriona out. Unfortunately, he was unable to save the kids.

 

As the police begin the crash investigation, the case is led by Detective Garth Klimmeck. A year older and that much closer to retirement, he is eyeballing the increasing need for a hip replacement, and other things. Local politics played a major role in the case last year. He is fully aware that with the people involved,  local politics will definitely play a role in this situation, no matter what he uncovers.

 

It certainly does, but politics and familial history is not even half of it. Much is going on here. Before long, there is a full-scale murder trial with twist after twist. Much like real life, this fictional world is full of chaos, grief, and unpredictability.

 

As previously noted, the events of the first book, Bitterfrost, play a significant role in this read. I strongly recommend reading this very good series in order. The author continues to develop a complicated world which gives this reader hope that the series will continue. A mighty good read and very much well worth your time, as are his other books.

 

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

 

My digital ARC reading copy came from the publisher, Severn House, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review. 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: Storm Tide: A Novel by Paul Doiron

 

In some sense what began in The Poacher’s Son long ago is about to come full circle. As Storm Tide: A Novel by Paul Doiron begins, Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch, who had a very problematic relationship with his own father, is about to be a father. His wife, Stacey, is just a few weeks away from giving birth. The clock is ticking on the arrival of their child in a world that has seen dad demoted back to patrol and about to lose his career with the Maine Warden Service.

 

On this October night others have lost far more. The roaring blaze in the shattered remains of the house means people have lost their lives. Somehow, a baby made it out, and a nearby neighbor has the child. Allegedly, the father brough the baby out and went back in for his wife. Bowditch had made it to the scene fast after the call came out and tried the same feat. The intense heat almost killed him as he entered and saw a man in flames collapsing to the floor. Bowditch managed to pull the man out of the raging inferno, but it was too late.

 

It is only in the aftermath with the arrival of Detective Sergeant Delphine Cruz of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit that Bowditch realizes something is up. Originally from Boston, she has made it to the scene before the Arson Investigator. So too has her attitude as she doesn’t like Maine or, as she sees it, what Bowditch represents. Through her, while answering her questions, he learns this is the home of the Malloys.

 

Specifically, the home of the infamous Brian Malloy who has been in the news for over a year due to his infidelity, a child out of wedlock, and the disappearance of the child shortly after he was ordered to pay child support. Many in the area searched for the missing child that has yet to be found. The court of public opinion has found them both guilty as people think dad took and killed the child and his wife lied for him. Their alibis had proven unshakable. There is a lot of anger amongst the locals who believe the Malloys got away with it all.

 

Now, both are thought to be dead in what is left of their relatively new home. Bowditch is pretty sure that something is off about the fire and the situation, in general, but he isn’t an investigator anymore, and never has been one for arsons anyway. Nobody is going to listen to him on this. Especially with his record and the fact that he is about to lose his job due to his recent actions.

 

Then some really weird things start happening. Somebody is once again toying with Bowditch. To mess with him is one thing. But, now Stacy and the baby are at risk.

 

What follows is a complicated read full of twists, turns, and links to the past. If Maine Game Warden Mike Bowdicth does not figure it out fast, he and his family may not survive.

 

Storm Tide: A Novel by Paul Doiron is the latest outing in a strong series best read in order. It finds Bowditch contemplating faith, fatherhood, and family, while also trying to prove that he isn’t just a conspiracy nutcase with a badge and gun. Sometimes you aren’t paranoid if they really are trying to get you.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Mia20a

 

 

My digital ARC reading copy came by way of the publisher, Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, in early November 2025, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

ButtonDown.Com: Out Today: American Caper Volume 1: Red-Pilled Blues

 ButtonDown.Com: Out Today: American Caper Volume 1: Red-Pilled Blues

Publication Day Review: Birds of Prey: New Crime Stories, Editors Harlan Coben and C. J. Box

 

Birds of Prey: New Crime Stories, edited by Harlan Coben and C. J. Box, is a mighty good read. Published by The Mysterious Press, I had hoped that the C. J. Box story taking wing here would feature his signature character, Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. Alas, that idea flew off towards the sun and was lost from view.

 

After a pun filled introduction by Harlan Coben that clearly rubbed off on this reader, the anthology opens strongly with “The Coffin Bearer” by Tess Gerritsen. Readers are taken to the coast of Maine as Maggie returns to her isolated island cabin. Seagulls are far out at sea and kicking up quite a bedlam so Maggie detours to investigate the ruckus. She spots a lobster buoy in the mist that belongs to a local. Minutes later she soon finds his eerily quiet boat. She finds signs that something has happened, but there is no sign of the missing lobster man. The last thing she wanted when she rented out the isolated place for the weeks to come was be a part of anything. That included any interest in her by the locals and the authorities. Now she is of considerable interest and that is another issue.

 

This short story was one of my favorites in the read. Several more personal favorites, in order of appearance, are below.

 

The person is known as “Owl.” He did some things back in the day for the miliary. At one time, that work included time working for the Armed Forces Medical Examiner. That means the Owl has top secret clearance. That clearance, and the skills he has, are needed in “Owl” by Kathy Reichs. Not only is a woman missing, her occupation, and where she went missing, are all part of a situation. There are also other troubling aspects as well.

 

Getting the car at the police auto auction was not the greatest idea Paul ever had. Maybe it was. In “The Falcon” by Robert Dugoni, Paul had the idea, and several guys chipped in on the project. Then the consequences started happening.

 

This short story struck a chord with me. When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, my dad would tell three or four stories about guys he knew that did this sort of thing. All these decades later, I’m fuzzy on the details, but am crystal clear that dad was convinced it was always a really bad idea.  

 

It was supposed to be a fun gig in “Watchers” by Allison Brennan. Monitor a pair of eagles and their babies in a nest located in the towering cliffs along the Verde River in Arizona. Lily Nolan loves the work and the experience as she takes picture after picture of the eaglets and their parents. Her approved access to the closed breeding ground in the Prescott National Forest has allowed her to take incredible pictures. She also saw something that she should have never seen. Now, Lily, and her fellow watcher, Kevin, are in real trouble.

 

The final tale in the anthology, Hawkshaw Hunting by Kelly Armstrong, takes readers to the Yukon Territory of Canada. There lies a very small and very isolated town that is the refuge of criminals that really want to get away and have the money to pay for off the grid isolation. As the story begins, our narrator works as a detective for Rockton. Her husband, Eric Dalton, is the sheriff. They and their Newfoundland dog, Storm, are at the Whitehorse Airport awaiting the arrival of Max Whitlock. A white-collar criminal, he paid a lot of money to spend the next two years hiding in their small town that survives by charging serious fees to killers and other criminals that have a need to get away and an ability to pay for it. Like the opening story, setting and atmosphere are characters in their own right in this tale where the complications start with his arrival.

 

 

While I only highlighted five short stories in the read that were my personal favorites, all eleven tales are good ones. Each tale is introduced by the author who explains why they chose a certain bird, the research involved, and/or other background details that enhanced the reading experience for each short story.

 

Simply put, Birds of Prey: New Crime Tales is chock full of solidly good crime fiction. Commissioned by the International Thriller Writers, editors Harlan Coben and C.J. Box did a fantastic job with the book. The read is very much worth your time.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/49Geb78

 

 

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

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: The Bookseller: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan

 

As the father of DS George Cross faces a very hard medical diagnosis, he works the case of a murder inside Squire’s Rare Books. Located in Bristol and owned by the Squire family, the bookstore has been a fixture in Berkeley Square. The squires have been involved in the business of rare books for decades, but world of bookselling has massively changed from when Torquil Squire was a mere lad running books when he was a lad. The staff that runs the place these days is having a hard time working together and adjusting the business and there is friction.

 

Did that friction play a role or cause the death of Edward Squire, son of Torquil, or not? A question that DS George Cross and the rest of the team will have to answer in coming days along with a host of other questions. A team that has a lot going on, professionally and personally, as they deal with various matters including the repercussions of recent events depicted in The Teacher.

 

Quite a lot is happening in The Bookseller: A DS George Cross Mystery. This review deliberately skims the surface of this intense police procedural. In my opinion, to reveal more would cause spoilers and I won’t do that. Suffice it to say that this is a mighty good read in a series that just keeps getting better and better.

 

As I have tried to make clear before, each book in this series is well worth your time. The Bookseller: A DS George Cross Mystery is as well.

 

 

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

 

 

I received a digital ARC from the publisher, Atlantic Crime, imprint of Grove Atlantic, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

  

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: Murder by Design: A Thriller by Lee Goldberg

  

Lee Goldberg’s Murder by Design: A Thriller is the first read in the new Edison Bixby series. It is also a bit weird and takes some time getting used to as the story unfolds. This is not your regular book from the author. Those who choose to stay with it will find a lot to like about the read.

 

Start with the basic idea of Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Now, make it contemporary. Now, replace Sherlock with the brilliant and often very rude, Edison Bixby. Bixby was a living legend in the LAPD. He solved murders and did it while being wealthy, eccentric, and a ton of style. He saw the world very differently. He saw a world where every crime, every human interaction, every behavior, could be traced back to the design around the person. That design of the building or whatever played a key role in whatever happened.

 

Then he took a bullet to the head. He survived the traumatic brain injury mostly intact. He still sees everything and everyone being influenced by the design of everything around them. That bullet did not take that from him. It did take his job with the LAPD and any mental filters he had. It also left him with a need for a driver and somebody to try and smooth over the ruffled feathers of others that Bixby encounters. Watson, if you will.

 

These days he solves crimes for Triax Global Insurance. He needs a driver, gopher, communicator, and everything else. He needs all that and more bundled up in his Watson.

 

Triax may have found his Watson in an actor that looking for his break in Hollywood. The guy gets auditions, even gets cast in commercials for various drugs, and then brings in his idea of the character he is playing in his role. He creates elaborate backstories and storylines for the minute or so he is on screen in a commercial. He overthinks each one to an incredible degree as he sees the world around him full of characters playing their respective roles. His elaborations tend to annoy directors and others and that results in being fired a lot. He refuses to change his behavior as he believes he is building hos craft.

 

Bixby sees the world as driven by design in very way possible. Some designs make crime easier and, in a way, encourage it. Our narrator, the actor, sees the world as a stage, literally, where everyone is at all times a player in a role. They make quite the duo and before long are working increasingly complex cases.

 

Such as the main case of the book where a person died at the mall. In theory, it is a simple slip and fall where a woman died because she became impaled on exposed rebar. Bixby is sure that it is far more than a slip and fall. He sees it as an ingenious murder and intends to solve the case.

 

Murder by Design: A Thriller is a complicated tale and far different in style, tone, and in any other way than the normal mystery read. Humor is frequently present as are descriptive explanations of how our everyday world is designed to influence our behavior in various ways. Several cases are worked in the read and there are numerous complications. It is also a read that will get you looking at your everyday world far differently. Especially if you drive by a mall.

 

Recommended.

 

 

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

 

 

My digital ARC came from Thomas & Mercer, by way of NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

ButtonDown.Com: No Man's Land by Szymon Kudranski

 ButtonDown.Com: No Man's Land by Szymon Kudranski

Publication Day Review: Ironwood: A Catalina Novel by Michael Connelly

 

As Ironwood: A Catalina Novel by Michael Connelly begins, it is approximately one year after the events of Nightshade. While it is always preferable to have read the first book in a series first, one could start here as there are minimal references to the past events.

 

In the aftermath of a police operation gone horribly wrong, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Detective Sergeant Stilwell of the Catalina substation, is in a world of trouble. At least he is alive and relatively uninjured. Not that he cares. One of his deputies is dead. Another is very seriously wounded and may not survive the emergency medical helicopter ride to the mainland.

 

Making things worse, if that is possible, is the fact that the suspects got away. The Department will conduct an extensive investigation. Every decision and action by Detective Sergeant Stilwell will be heavily scrutinized and second guessed.

 

That process begins with the arrival from the mainland of his immediate boss, Captain Corum, accompanied by members of a team of investigators. After he is questioned by a number of people over a multi hour period where he has to go through everything over and over, detail by detail, Captain Corum finally tells him that he is in the clear, for now. He is grounded to the substation and on the bench. When he is on duty, he is to confine himself to the substation for his shift, and to take care of paperwork, storage concerns, and other issues. He isn’t to involve himself in the investigation of the events out on the tarmac which allowed a drug plane to escape and left one deputy under his command dead and another one near death.

 

As if being told to stay out of it is going to ever happen. Detective Sergeant Stilwell is used to working around the bosses. Part of the reason he is out on Catalina Island is the fact that the Department sends problematic folks out there for various disciplinary reasons. The posting is supposed to be a punishment. For him, it has grown into a very positive situation for many different reasons. At his heart, he is still law enforcement, and isn’t just going to sit around and do nothing.

 

He knows he chased a suspect down a hillside even though there is very little proof of that fact. He also has a pretty good idea of what the suspect looked like. That suspect is probably still on the island and holed up waiting for the first ferry of the day. Obviously, staking out the ferry and its passengers is the way to go.

 

His work leads him to a suspect, an arrest, and then an incident that gets him deeper into trouble. It also leads him into a separate cold case murder investigation, a serial killer, and work with Ballard and her team.

 

I’m intentionally skimming the surface, if that much, of this read in order to avoid spoilers. Simply put, Ironwood: A Catlina Novel is a might good read from the intense beginning right to the last sentence. Well worth your time.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4sPe4h9

 

My digital ARC reading copy came from the publisher, Little, Brown and Company, by way of NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: Reverse: A Posadas County Mystery by Steven F. Havill

 

Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman is in her patrol unit and driving on a quiet evening in Posadas County, New Mexico, when she hears the relaxed voice of Sergeant Thomas Pasquale calling in a license platy check to the new dispatcher on duty. It is November as Reverse: A Posadas County Mystery by Steven F. Havill begins, and the weather has been unseasonably warm. The license plate soon comes back to a totally different car than the one in the parking lot of NightZone.  The currently unoccupied car has been hidden on the far end of a parking lot and sandwiched between an older station wagon and a large pickup truck. After a short cellphone discussion with Sergeant Pasquale, she decides to run code and respond as his backup.

 

She never makes it.

 

As her brilliantly lit departmental Charger rockets down the highway, she collides with a large elk and its baby. The crash is devastating to her, the car, and the elk. Minutes later, Sheriff Jackie Taber, who was a few miles behind her on the same road as she too was already headed to NightZone, is on scene and starts a complicated rescue response.

 

In the aftermath, Estelle is more determined to retire at the end of the year, as scheduled. She soon learns that she is not the only one about to leave the department. Change is coming, the torch is being passed, and those left in the small department, as well as everyone else, are going to have to deal with a seismic shift in personnel.

 

A small department that is also dealing with an ongoing staff shortage, political and budget issues, and crime problems. That also includes the vexing problem of what happened to a 1967 Corvette that was being raffled off to pay for new and much needed church roofs. The car was swiped from the service area of the local dealership. That never should have happened. Where is the car? Who took it? Just two of the many questions that need to be answered as the raffle draws closer by the hour.

 

Not to mention determining what happened to the local teen found near death by the old and very flooded local quarry? It has been abandoned for years. Nobody should have been out there. From the state of the kid, he clearly was there, at some point.

 

What follows is another complicated read featuring characters that are old friends at this point. Characters that are never static, but just like real people in our lives, evolve and change over time. As a longtime reader and a big-time fan of the series, it is fun to again visit with characters that feel like friends and family. To visit again an area of New Mexico that is clearly loved by Mr. Havill. None of us are getting any younger and getting to once again go back to Posadas County is a real treat and much appreciated.

 

The latest installment of a wonderful series, Reverse: A Posadas County Mystery Series, is strongly recommended. As is the series.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4rGFu81

 

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

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

ButtonDown.Com: Out Today: The Voice Said Kill

 ButtonDown.Com: Out Today: The Voice Said Kill

SleuthSayers: Another Round by Mark Thielman

SleuthSayers: Another Round:   Today marks a milestone in my writing journey. It is Publication Day for The Firefall , the third book in my Johnson and Nance series. As ...

Publication Day Review: Revenge Prey: A Lucas Davenport Novel by John Sandford

 

Revenge Prey: A Lucas Davenport Novel by John Sandford finds Lucas Davenport and Shelly White at a house on a cul-de-sac in a rural area. It is February in Minnesota as a cold overcast day is working steadily closer to what will be a brutally cold night. It is a safe house and the two Deputy U. S. Marshals are awaiting the arrival of a defecting Russian and his family under escort by Witness Protection Marshals and others.

 

The defector used to be a very high-ranking person in the Russian spy agency. Now his name is Leonard Summers and he and his family have spent the last eighteen months hidden in a CIA facility near Washington. They worked on learning and perfecting English while the CIA and others squeezed them for intelligence. The plan is for them to hide out in the house for the next two weeks or so to see if everything is okay.

 

It isn’t.

 

Within minutes of their arrival, a Russian kill team makes their presence known by firing shots into the house. A chase and resulting gun battle is on and so is the hunt for the elusive kill team.

 

What follows is an intense and fast moving read as Lucas and others chase the assassins. Assassins who have to try again or be executed by Putin’s regime.

 

The name of the game here is action and Revenge Prey: A Lucas Davenport Novel by John Sandford delivers in every way possible. It also has several laugh out loud dialog moments that may or may not include Virgil Flowers.

 

A fast and fun read, Revenge Prey: A Lucas Davenport Novel, by John Sandford is very much worth your time.

 

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

 

 

I received this as a digital ARC from the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, through NetGalley, in late October 2025, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: From the Dust: A Novel by David Swinson

 

Death is something the retired DC Metropolitan Police Department Detective is very familiar with, professionally and personally. Graham Sanderson has quiet working homicides in Washington, DC, and moved into his dad’s house in upstate New York. Most of his possessions sit in storage as he came to the house to help his brother, Tommy, after dad died. Tommy is agoraphobic and has not left the property in many years. With dad’s death, he had nobody to help him, so Graham came with a few things and moved into a guest bedroom in the house.

 

He came with some clothes and a few mementos. That includes the urn with his late wife’s ashes. It sits, top off, next to his bed and he talks to her on a daily basis. The grief remains strong and he is coping with that, and other issues, as best as he can. With no hobbies and the memories of a lifetime of police work, he has far too much time on his hands to think and brood.

 

In the hours after the service for dad, William Finn, who is the Chief of Police, asks for his help as the small local department is very short staffed. A patrol officer was just recently promoted to investigator. The guy is good, or he would not have been promoted, but Chief Finn would like Sanderson to consult as they have a serious problem.

 

There has been a killer at work in the area and clues are scarce. Suspects are non-existent. Chief Finn wants to keep the investigation in house and not ask for outside agency help as the second, and most recent, victim was his nephew. He wants Sanderson’s help. Something Sanderson is reluctant to do at all as he is burned out, adjusting to being retired, mending a relationship with his younger brother that he has not seen in many years, losing his dad, among other things, and does not want to annoy anyone inside or outside the department.

 

But, Chief Finn is persistent, and Sanderson finally agrees to review the case file to this point and take an impartial fresh look. The rookie investigator, Mike Gottert, welcomes him with open arms and quickly invites Sanderson to go along as he goes back to the scene of the second body with a plan to recanvass the area, knock on doors, and poke around.

 

Before long, while not carrying a shield, Sanderson is almost as involved in the case as if he were a member of the department. Working helps occupy his mind, even if the case keeps coming closer and closer to home. A case that may have also, once again, made him a target.

 

From the Dust: A Novel by David Swinson is a complex and extremely enjoyable police procedural. With its rich characters and storytelling, it is also a testimony, in a way, about coping with complex mental health challenges in a world that often does not understand what folks are dealing with on a daily basis. This is one of those books that comes fully alive for the reader in a variety of ways and keeps the reader turning pages long after one should quit for the night.

 

All in all, From the Dust: A Novel by Doug Swinson is a mighty good read and very much recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4ccY7vQ

 

 

My digital ARC reading copy came by way of the publisher, Mulholland Books, imprint of Little, Brown and Company, through NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel by C.J. Box

 

Marybeth Pickett always knew that being the wife of a Wyoming Game Warden meant the worse could happen at any time. She knows from the start of The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel that it has almost happened. At least her husband is still alive, if only by a thread. 

 

That November morning a Wyoming Game and Fisheries Department pickup was found smack in the middle of Antler Creek Road by a hunter. It was riddled with bullet holes. Her husband, Joe Pickett, was also hit and suffered severe trauma.

 

She soon makes her way to the isolated scene where the ambulance crew is prepping him for an emergency helicopter ride to Billings, Montana. Shot, including once in the head, he needs a trauma unit and far more medical care that the small community hospital in Saddlestring, Wyoming, can provide. First, he has to survive the half hour plus chopper flight to get to the trauma unit.

 

With a newly elected sheriff in town, and other local law enforcement challenges, their three daughters decide that they will figure out who ambushed their dad. Sitting in the hospital with their mom isn’t going to help. Sheridan, April, and Lucy are known in the community which means people will talk to them. They know how to investigate having grown up in a household where both parents have investigated a lot of cases over the years.  They know they can do this. To figure out who did it, they have to figure out why he was on the road and where he was headed. They are going to figure it out.

 

And Nate Romanowski might get involved as well.

 

The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel is the latest book in the long running series. It is also a mighty good read. In addition to the reminder of how Marybeth and Joe met and details of their marriage, readers are given a long glimpse into the lives of their adult daughters. Ladies that have seen a thing, or three, as they grew up and have the scars and internal resources to deal with any problem.

 

The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel is an intense and very good read. This one will keep you up late-night reading, if you are not carful. Strongly recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4qBcI8G 

My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review. 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: Robert B. Parker’s Big Shot: A Jesse Stone Novel by Christopher Farnsworth

 

Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone is on the night shift as Robert B. Parker’s Big Shot: A Jesse Stone Novel begins and he likes it. He really likes it. It is something he does from time to time as they are an eleven member police department. There Is plenty of money in Paradise, Massachusetts, so the sight of the McLaren sports car on its own is not surprising. At the same time, summer is over and that means the summer people are gone. So, it is something to look at as it is just parked at the side of the road.

 

When Jesse looks closer he realizes the driver is passed out in the car. Woken up by Jesse, he comes out of the car belligerent and very intoxicated. Not only does he refuse to cooperate, he takes a swing at Jesse. Before long, he is in cuffs and on his way to the jail.

 

It isn’t until late in the morning of the next day that Molly informs him that he arrested and jailed a notorious celebrity. The man is Ramsey Devlin. The same Ramsey Devlin that beat the federal fraud case, moved out of NYC, and into a newly constructed mansion monstrosity in the area. The same house that many of the neighbors complained to the police about as the eyesore was being constructed even though the situation had nothing to do with the police.

 

Like his client, his attorney, Gordon Wilkes, is arrogant and aggressive. The attorney claims that the arrest is nothing more than police harassment at the behest of the federal government. Neither he nor his client see that Devlin was out of line. Instead, they plan to sue the department into oblivion.

 

Unfortunately, that first incident is not the last. All too soon, Jesse is accused of murder and gets another lesson regarding actual friends.

 

Robert B. Parker’s Big Shot: A Jesse Stone Novel by Christopher Farnsworth is a mighty good read. As author Reed Farrel Coleman did with the series years ago across several books, and as Mr. Farnsworth did in the last novel, Buried Secrets, he again captures the voice and spirit of the series as written by Robert B. Parker. The book comes alive for the reader. It only takes a handful of pages before that the tale is from somebody other than the original author. He has every aspect of those reads down and this new tale just flows for the reader.

 

Strongly Recommended.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/48ZTwtx

 

 

My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, through NetGalley, and with no expectation of a positive review. 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Stolen in Death by J.D. Robb

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Stolen in Death by J.D. Robb

Publication Day Review: Crimson Thaw: A Detective Justice Novel by Bruce Robert Coffin

I have long been a fan of police procedurals by Bruce Robert Coffin. His latest, Crimson Thaw: A Detective Justice Novel, takes readers to Maine where Detective Justice is going through some things because he stood up for what was right. 

Maine State Police Detective Brock Justice, and his partner, Evan Mathers, should have waited for backup to take down Terrance “Terry” Kirke. But, backup was delayed so they went in on their own. Things went horribly wrong and both are dealing with the repercussions of that event. 

Detective Brock Justice has transferred to a new station far to the north of where he had been working before now. He’s in Bangor, Maine, newly divorced, and a pariah to most of his fellow state troopers. His new boss, Lieutenant Penelope Cumberland, is less than thrilled to have him in her command and makes that fact clear from their very first meeting.

Warned to toe the line and do things by the book, she sends him out on his first case. He will partner with a detective who has investigator experience, but not working homicides, Chloe Wright. The scene is about an hour away at a body of water known as “Second Pond” located near the town of Blue Hill. 

He arrives in time to see a snowmobile float to the surface with considerable assistance by the dive team. A dive team that includes his new partner, Chloe Wright. It isn’t uncommon to find bodies in or near various vehicles as lakes and ponds thaw in the spring. Usually, liquor is involved, and people got intoxicated and stupid, and died as a result. It can take awhile and consistent warmer weather to recover the bodies. 

This one is very different form the normal death by drunken misadventure as the body is handcuffed to the snowmobile. Along with teaching Chloe various tricks of being a homicide detective as this is her first homicide case, it becomes clear they have a literal cold case on their hands in more ways than one. Not in terms of years, but in terms of the body having been submerged since sometime in the winter as well as the identity of the victim. Their first clue is the fact that the snowmobile is incredibly expensive. 

What follows is a complex police procedural as the author sets the foundation stone for a new series while providing a case full of twists and turns. The tentacles of the past reach deep into the present and weave a complex tapestry of crime and deceit as a back drop to the murder. 

Simply put, Crimson Thaw: A Detective Justice Novel is a mighty good read and very much worth your time. Strongly recommended. 

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

My reading copy came from the author with no expectation of a review. 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Publication Day Review: Crime Writer by Vinnie Hanson

  

Any police officer will tell you there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop. Things can go bad in a second. That is exactly what happened to Officer Austin, and his ride along, Zoey Kozinski, in the new novel, Crime Writer by Vinnie Hansen.

 

Zoey is a writer and in the police car this September evening because she is working on her project. The novel is pretty much stalled and she is hoping that the ride along might provide some real-world inspirational details that will help get it going. Her agent certainly would like to see some progress too.

 

It is the night shift for those on the job in Playa Maria County in the central coast of California and the ride along isn’t doing much at all for her. Officer Austin isn’t sharing much with her at all despite her best efforts.

 

After several unremarkable situations, Officer Austin decides to pull over a random car. It takes a considerable distance for the driver to stop as the person seems oblivious to the lights and siren. Once it does stop, the officer approaches the vehicle. Within seconds he is dead on the roadway.

 

The shooter immediately speeds off and then, within a couple of minutes, as Zoey tries to comprehend what she saw and get help, comes back and passes the scene. There is no way the shooter did not see her as the car came by. That means the shooter knows she is a witness.

 

A witness that needs to be eliminated.

 

A witness that the police believe is actually the suspect.

 

A witness the devastated widow firmly believes needlessly distracted her husband and father of their children and thereby got him killed.

 

What follows is Zoey trying to come to grips with what she saw and the aftermath of the tragedy. At the same time, she has to deal with suspicious members of law enforcement who treat here as a suspect as well as killer who is trying to find her and silence her. Things are complicated in her life before the shooting. All that gets way worse afterwards and gets even more complicated before long.

 

Don’t forget Mom. She is sure she knows best on all things and Zoey isn’t having it.

 

Crime Writer by Vinnie Hansen is an entertaining fast moving read. It starts with a compelling idea about an officer killed during a ride along (a thankfully rare event) and builds out from there in a myriad of ways. Zoey is smart, funny, emotional, and a fiery redhead bundle of energy and contradictions.

 

It all makes Crime Writer by Vinnie Hansen a solidly good read.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4n6abkC 

 

 

My ARC digital reading copy came from the publisher, NetGalley where I was already preapproved and with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025