Beneath the Stains of Time: Jack the Poetical Private (1997) by MORI Hiroshi

Beneath the Stains of Time: Jack the Poetical Private (1997) by MORI Hiroshi: In 2013, the Breakthrough Bandwagon Books translated and published over half a dozen short stories by MORI Hiroshi, associate professor, en...

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Frankenstein Factory (1975) by Edward D. Hoch

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Frankenstein Factory (1975) by Edward D. Hoch: Edward D. Hoch was the King of Short Stories, the Man of a Thousand Tales of Mystery and Detection, but, during his five decade run, Hoch a...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Best Served Cold: Case Closed, vol. 96 by Gosho Aoyama

Beneath the Stains of Time: Best Served Cold: Case Closed, vol. 96 by Gosho Ao...: This is probably going to be a slightly shorter review than usual, because Gosho Aoyama 's 96th volume of Case Closed only has one comp...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Straight to Your Heart: Case Closed, vol. 95 by Gosho Aoyama

Beneath the Stains of Time: Straight to Your Heart: Case Closed, vol. 95 by Go...: Gosho Aoyama 's 95th volume of Case Closed picks up where the previous, absolutely packed volume ended that was crammed with familiar f...

ButtonDown.com: Killer on the Loose: Serial Killers

 ButtonDown.com: Killer on the Loose: Serial Killers

Beneath the Stains of Time: A Challenger Appears: C.M.B. vol. 5-6 by Motohiro Katou

Beneath the Stains of Time: A Challenger Appears: C.M.B. vol. 5-6 by Motohiro ...: Three months ago, I finished Motohiro Katou 's Q.E.D. series with my review of vol. 50 and compiled " The Hit List: Top 10 Favori...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone (2022) by Benjamin Stevenson

Beneath the Stains of Time: Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone (2022) by...: The traditional, Golden Age-style detective story has seen a tremendous resurgence over the past ten years spurred on by the fortunate concu...

Review: The Silence of the Dead: A Charlie-316 Novel by Colin Conway and Frank Zafiro

 

The Silence of the Dead: A Charlie-316 Novel by Colin Conway and Frank Zafiro is a complicated book that spans a period from 1951 to more recent months. Set in 1951, 1973, 2005 and more recently, it considers the idea of a generational serial killer and the repercussions involved in opening cases long ago declared solved. Set in the Charlie-316 Universe, this sixth book in the series isn’t an easy book to review as revealing details of the situation early in this read would ruin the book.

 

Suffice it to say, and it has to as this reviewer does everything possible to avoid spoilers, the book begins in 2023. Major Crimes Detective Wardell Clint is a good cop, even though he has a large axe to grind with many people inside and outside the Spokane Washington Police Department. One of those people he dislikes, and the feeling is fairly mutual, is former Police Chief Robert Baumgartner. Not only does he think the former chief is a bit racist, he also thinks that the chief did everything from a political perspective first, and as a cop a distant second. So, he does not trust the man at all. But, Detective Clint is on the track of a killer that has been active for decades and the former chief has the knowledge and thereby the answers he needs. So, he heads out to the lakehouse to see the former chief, have a chat, and surreptitiously record what answers he gets.

 

Detective Clint is investigating the 2016 murder of Melaine Paz back when Baumgartner was still chief. Sexually assaulted and left dead behind a dumpster, her case is classified as a cold case and one of several Detective Clint is working. While still in the Major Crimes Unit, he has been put on cold cases only due to recent events. He’s not in the active current rotation and has been professionally sidelined. A man who is known for his conspiracy theories, he believes a conspiracy of some type is at work here with this murder case and others, and intends to expose all to get his status back.

 

If nothing else, Detective Clint is thorough. He has found links to other murder cases going back as far as 1951. All the cases share a common denominator and were classified as solved even though he sees inconsistences and holes in the investigations. Thus, he believes there is a coverup and wants know what really happened and why Baumgartner and others apparently covered it all up

 

Baumgartner eventually agrees to tell all that he knows, unofficially, this one time. As the hours pass, he starts telling it all from the very brutal beginning in 1951.

 

There is a lot to tell. It all is very complicated and shows how some things have changed and others have not.

 

The Silence Of The Dead: A Charlie-316 Novel is an incredibly complicated read. Unlike a lot of police procedurals, this book as well as the series, do not push a pro police agenda. Instead, the read highlights that there are times when no matter what you do, the choices are horrible.

 

While this was not my favorite read in the series to date that began with Charlie-316, it was an interesting and entertaining read. If you like complicated police procedurals steeped in shades of grey and black, this book, is well worth your time.

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

 

My ARC reading copy came from author Frank Zafiro back in October 2024 and with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Beneath the Stains of Time: The House of Snow and the Six Tricks (2022) by Danro Kamosaki

Beneath the Stains of Time: The House of Snow and the Six Tricks (2022) by Dan...: Last year, the first round of nominations for the updated " Locked Room Library ," hosted by Alexander of The Detection Collection...

Publication Day Review: Head Cases: A Novel by John McMahon

 

I have long been a fan of author John McMahon’s work. See his three-book series that starts with The Good Detective. So, when Head Cases came up on NetGalley, I quickly put in for it. Even though I had quite a few already assigned to me, Minotaur Books quickly approved my request. Very glad they did that. Especially since the book is so very good.

 

FBI Agent Gardner Camden has skills. Not social skills as he has a hard time reading people and situations and, as a result, he is awkward. After a recent event, he does not venture out of the field office in Jacksonville, Florida. He prefers it that way as his skills are aimed at solving riddles and enigmas, and has an incredible wealth of knowledge. His ability to solve things is why he and his partner, Agent Cassie Pardo were put on a plane and sent to DFW airport.

 

How does a dead man die twice, years apart?

 

Ross Tignon, identified as being dead years ago, is very much dead again. This time he is dead on his kitchen floor, next to the kitchen island that borders the living room. The blood pool under the body trails over to and under the refrigerator.

 

Back in 2013, Ross Tignon was the suspect in a series of murders in Florida. Agent Camden was on the hunt, chasing him down while he built the case, and then a fire occurred in Tignon’s home. While his wife was brought out, injured but alive, a male was not so lucky. Dental records indicated that the body was Ross Tignon. At, least what was left of him one the fire was out.

 

The man on the floor, known to the locals as Bob Breckinridge, is Ross Tignon. Clearly, he did not die easy as he was cut open wide in the stomach area. He was cut again in his chest. The killer cut the numbers “5” and “0” into his chest. Agent Camden has no idea what the number could mean though, Agent Pardo thinks it might represent the police, aka 5-0.

 

Agent Camden, Cassie, and three other folks work in a specialized unit of the F.B.I. known as PAR for Patterns and Recognition. Their job is to consider cases that are stalled. Review them, identify peculiarities in them, and offer new theories of investigation. PAR then gives the case back to the relevant field office or sends it to headquarters. They don’t go into the field because everyone in the unit has a particular quirky skill that is useful and a history of screwing up in some way.

 

Being sent out in the field never happens. Yet it has this time. The reason was that it was supposed to be because the boss wanted Agent Camden to see the body and verify it really was Ross Tignon. With that being done, they should be soon on their way back to the home base in Florida.

 

Instead, and just after they turn the scene over to agents out of Dallas office, they are sent to Rawlings, New Mexico. After serving thirty-one years for multiple murders back in the 90s, Barry Fisher was just released days earlier. Every agent studies his case in the FBI Academy. He is a legend in bad way. He is now dead and Camden and Pardo are headed to New Mexico.

 

Not only that, but in a first, Agent Camden will lead the investigation. A serial killer is killing serial killers.

 

What follows is a fast moving and complex police procedural. While the focus is on Camden, the rest of the team and several other characters are fully developed and multifaceted. So too is the killer who the reader gets to know through the working of the case. Not by the usual mind of the killer POV technique in dedicated chapters that so many authors use. The absence of that predictable and utterly boring author technique was a major relief to this reader.

 

We learn everything from Agent Camden’s perspective. A man that has special skills, a different way of looking at the world, and a very hard time fitting in with people. A character that very much spoke to this reader.

 

According to the author’s acknowledgment at the end of the read, this is the first book of a two-book contract. The second in the series will come out early in 2026. I was thrilled to read this news. Head Cases was/is a great read and very much worth your time.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4a4ObRI

 

My digital ARC reading copy came from Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Lesa's Book Critiques: Fatal Intrusion by Jeffery Deaver & Isabella Maldonado

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Fatal Intrusion by Jeffery Deaver & Isabella Maldonado

Beneath the Stains of Time: Midsummer Murder (1937) by Clifford Witting

Beneath the Stains of Time: Midsummer Murder (1937) by Clifford Witting: Midsummer Murder (1937) is Clifford Witting 's second novel starring Inspector Harry Charlton, attached to the Downshire County Constab...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Blackstone Fell (2022) by Martin Edwards

Beneath the Stains of Time: Blackstone Fell (2022) by Martin Edwards: Martin Edwards ' Blackstone Fell (2022), alternatively published as The Puzzle of Blackstone Lodge , is the third title in the Rachel S...

Beneath the Stains of Time: My Late Wives: "She Wouldn't Kill Patience" (2002) by Ooyama Seiichiro

Beneath the Stains of Time: My Late Wives: "She Wouldn't Kill Patience" (2002)...: Ooyama Seiichiro is a Japanese mystery writer specialized in themes series and short story collections, best known today for the " Alib...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Death Walks in Eastrepps (1931) by Francis Beeding

Beneath the Stains of Time: Death Walks in Eastrepps (1931) by Francis Beeding: " Francis Beeding " was the shared pseudonym of two writers, John Palmer and Hilary St. George Saunders, who collaborated on more ...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Monster Hunter: Case Closed, vol. 86 by Gosho Aoyama

Beneath the Stains of Time: Monster Hunter: Case Closed, vol. 86 by Gosho Aoyama: Gosho Aoyama 's Case Closed , vol. 86 begins, as is usually the case, with the concluding chapter to the story that closed out the previ...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Gallows Court (2018) by Martin Edwards

Beneath the Stains of Time: Gallows Court (2018) by Martin Edwards: Martin Edwards is a British solicitor turned award-winning crime writer and anthologist who debuted with All the Lonely People (1991), intr...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Six Dead Men (1930/31) by S.A. Steeman

Beneath the Stains of Time: Six Dead Men (1930/31) by S.A. Steeman: Back in April, I reviewed a fairly dated Dutch-Flemish translation of La nuit du 12 au 13 ( The Night of the 12th-13th , 1931) by Stanislas...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Curtain (c. 1940/75) by Agatha Christie

Beneath the Stains of Time: Curtain (c. 1940/75) by Agatha Christie: So the last two ramblings on this blog were rereads of Agatha Christie 's novel-length introductions of her famous literary creations, H...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Reverse the Charges (1943) by Brian Flynn

Beneath the Stains of Time: Reverse the Charges (1943) by Brian Flynn: Brian Flynn 's Reverse the Charges (1943) is the twenty-ninth novel featuring his consulting detective, Anthony Bathurst, which brings ...