Don't Need A Diagram: Frank Huyler, “The Blood of Strangers”

 Don't Need A Diagram: Frank Huyler, “The Blood of Strangers”

Patricia Abbott: Short Story Wednesday, THE COLLECTED STORIES OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY

 Patricia Abbott: Short Story Wednesday, THE COLLECTED STORIES OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY

Jim Nesbitt Reviews: An Ink-Stained Killing: Greed, Betrayal, Murder And A New York Tabloid

 Jim Nesbitt Reviews: An Ink-Stained Killing: Greed, Betrayal, Murder And A New York Tabloid

Happiness Is A Book: A Reader’s Guide to the Classic British Mystery by Susan Oleksiw

 Happiness Is A Book: A Reader’s Guide to the Classic British Mystery by Susan Oleksiw

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

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Taken Ones: A J.P. Beaumont Novel by J. A. Jance

 

The prolific Judy Jance, who has four distinct crime fiction series to her credit, started with a book about Seattle homicide detective J. P. Beaumont in 1985. The 27^th case of the retired detective turned private investigator is due to be released on 10 November 2026.

In The Taken Ones (Morrow, 2026) Beau’s network of former colleagues and associates gets a workout in this story of disappearing women kidnapped from various parts of the United States. The police do not take the missing persons reports from their families seriously, since all of them are responsible adults and there were no indications of violence. Beau is first contacted by a grandmother who is also an excellent vehicle mechanic in Alaska who had helped Beau when he was in the area on a missing person case years earlier. She had known Gina Holt, the granddaughter of close friends, since she was a child. The news that Gina had disappeared after traveling to Seattle for a summer internship at a prestigious architectural engineering firm stunned her. Then she thought to call Beau for help. On vacation in Calgary, Beau can still make a few phone calls to Seattle to jumpstart a search and to find someone in law enforcement to take the grandparents’ concerns seriously. He learns that the airport camera footage showed the young woman in the terminal after landing. What happened after that required more work to discover.

A knowledgeable IT friend sorted the thousands of missing persons reports filed across the nation, identifying all of the victims who were about Gina’s age. More filtering winnowed out a group of young women who disappeared in much the same way as Gina, giving Beau and his active law enforcement buddies the distinct impression some sort of mass kidnapping or trafficking ring was at work.

The revolving changes in narrative perspective from Beau to the kidnapped young women to one of the kidnappers to the Alaska vehicle mechanic who first alerted Beau and back again is a little distracting but the various points of view help fill in the background leading up to the kidnappings. A fast-moving story with a satisfying ending. A good addition to the series.

 

·         Publisher: ‎William Morrow

·         Publication date: ‎November 10, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎368 pages

·         ISBN-10: 0063413124

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-0063413122

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://link.amazon/B08DcObvH

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026

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

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

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Double Death of Frédéric Belot (1932) by Claude Aveline

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Double Death of Frédéric Belot (1932) by Claud...: Evgen Avstine was a French editor, poet, publisher and writer born to Russian-Jewish parents who wrote everything from non-fiction, poetry, ...

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Some People by Parini Shroff

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Some People by Parini Shroff:   Reviewed by Jeanne Nathan Whitlock is startled to receive a call from the hospital about his mother-in-law, Malti Patel.   Well, soon ...

Scott's Take: Magik and Colossus: Bound by Blood by Ashley Allen, illustrated by German Peralta, Cover Design by David Nakayama

Magik and Colossus: Bound by Blood by Ashley Allen, illustrated by German Peralta, Cover Design by David Nakayama, collects the miniseries, Magik and Colossus. This is the latest Magik series by Ashley Allen who has done several of the Magik series to date.  

 

In this one, Colossus (Magik’s older brother) is dealing with the fallout of being mind controlled for several months. He was forced to kill his girlfriend, betray his friends, and pretty much destroy everything he has ever loved. He has always been big on self-sacrifice and seems to think death would be welcome at this point in his life. In this deep depression, he decides to return to his home country of Russia.

 

Magik just happens to return to Russia at the same time. The siblings reunite and soon stumble across monsters terrorizing Russia. Old creatures, myths, and more have returned to Russia. Instead of retreating to gather more X-Men (even though Magik is a teleporter and could return with back up in minutes) they two decide to handle this together. The estranged siblings are going to save Russia and, hopefully, deal with their issues.

 

Colossus has never forgiven himself for not saving Magik from being kidnapped by a demon. Because she was captured, she spent a number of years pf her life in Hell. Magik is mad still at Colossus that he has not accepted that she is part demon now whether they like it or not. She is also tired of Colossus willingness to die.

 

This is action packed adventure with Russian myths at the heart that also dives deep into both characters. Colossus has found his import reduced since the Juggernaut has become a hero,  thus most writers are picking the Juggernaut over Colossus as a team member. Then there is the fact that Colossus’s popularity, and relevance, has been eclipsed by his younger sister. So, this is a much-needed spotlight for the character. Additionally, Magik has broken out of her niche character status by becoming mainstream by playing prominent roles in several video games and being a core character in a lot of modern X-Men stories.

 

I really enjoyed this team up book and, as a fan of both characters, I am glad they got to team up. They are parting again, but hopefully future writers will continue their relationship.  This miniseries was good.

 

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

 

I read this through Marvel Unlimited months ago. The trade was just released earlier this week.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026

Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE COBRA

Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE COBRA: The Cobra  by "Maxwell Grant" (Walter B. Gibson)  (from The Shadow Magazine , April 1934; reprinted in The Shadow #7:  "The C...

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

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Mystery of Hunting's End (1930) by Mignon G. Eberhart

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Mystery of Hunting's End (1930) by Mignon G. E...: Last year, I reviewed Mignon G. Eberhart ' s From This Dark Stairway (1931), fourth in the Nurse Keath and Lance O'Leary series, wh...

Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: PARLOUR TRICKS

Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: PARLOUR TRICKS: "Parlour Tricks" by Ralph Plummer  (first published in the  Passing Show Christmas Holiday Annual , 1930; reprinted in Silent Nigh...

Happiness Is A Book: And One Cried Murder by Lee Thayer

 Happiness Is A Book: And One Cried Murder by Lee Thayer

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

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

Short Story Wednesday Review: A Dark Place and Other Kate Burkholder Short Stories by Linda Castillo

A Dark Place and Other Kate Burkholder Short Stories by Linda Castillo opens with every parent’s nightmare. 12-year-old Aaron Kuhns and 11-year-old Kevin Dennison are missing. As the night goes on and the weather gets worse, it is all hands-on deck for the small police force in Painter’s Mill, Ohio, led by Kate Burkholder.  The kids have to be found.

 

A missing child is also  in play in “Disappeared.” The youngest child of Joseph and Emma Kline, a toddler, is missing. The child might have wandered outside and could have easily gotten to the nearby Painters Creek. Or be lost elsewhere on their Amish farm.

 

Merle Beachy was just trying to get home in “Blood Moon.” The buggy is on the way home down backroads as the fog gets thicker when everything goes wrong. The horse got spooked and bolted, the buggy crashed, he got attacked, and now dispatch is waking up the chief with the call for help out at the Levi Miller Farm.

 

Eddie Chupp is harvesting pumpkins as “Hallowed Ground” begins. The harvest is a good one. He’s happy and enjoying the day until his dog gets into something in the field.  The dog won’t stop digging. Eddie goes to see what the dog has found and thinks that it is a human bone.

 

And arsonist has done their work as “Dark Storm Rising” begins. Just days later, Kate Burkholder and John Tomasetti, BCI agent, are on the way to their honeymoon cabin somewhere close to Lake Erie. Sugar Maple Cabins is owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Nisley. They are also having some trouble as one of their cabins was burned down recently.

 

A derecho is a terrifying and destructive weather event. Here in NE Dallas, we are blasted by one a few years ago. The result was a multi-day power outage that made me sick from the heat and widespread damage. They are far more common in the Midwest, places like Ohio. One has hit “A Dark Path” and people are missing. It might not be just the fault of the weather either.

 

I have long been a fan of the Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo. I was onboard long before she was famous and winning awards. Like the late Steven F. Havill, her books are set in a small town, feature diverse and complicated characters, and build upon each other. The primary characters become like family to the read as they go through their lives. The series is fluid and the same can be said of her latest short story collection.

 

If you are a new to this author, A Dark Path and Other Kate Burkholder Short Stories is a very good start. And if you are an old hand at the series, reading this is like coming home. Truly a balm for the soul and what ails you.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://link.amazon/B04oKRVqN

 

After being denied by the publisher, Minotaur Books last summer  on NetGalley, Lesa Holstine sent me her paperback review copy several months ago. I am grateful to her for sending me her copy to read and review. You should read her review as well.

 

Kevin R. Tipple  © 2026

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

Little Big Crimes: The Grammar Dick, by Randy Eggert

Little Big Crimes: The Grammar Dick, by Randy Eggert:   "The Grammar Dick," by Randy Eggert, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, November/December 2026. Parody, boy. That'...