In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Death of a Dutchman

In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Death of a Dutchman: Magdalen Nabb was born in Lancashire in 1947 but lived in Florence, Italy, from 1975 until her death in 2007. She wrote both children's...

Lesa's Book Critiques: The Troubling Death of Maddy Benson by Terry Shames

 Lesa's Book Critiques: The Troubling Death of Maddy Benson by Terry Shames

Beneath the Stains of Time: Where There's a Will (1961) by Kip Chase

Beneath the Stains of Time: Where There's a Will (1961) by Kip Chase: Previously, I reviewed F. van Wyck Mason's Seeds of Murder (1930) and a short story by Paul Charles, " The Riddle of the Hummin...

FFB Review: BANK SHOT (1972) by Donald E. Westlake Reviewed by Barry Ergang

Barry Ergang is back on the blog today with an all new review for FFB. For the full list of reading suggestions, check out Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog.

BANK SHOT (1972) by Donald E. Westlake

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

“A man had to stay alive somehow while waiting for a big score to develop, and there was nothing better for that than an encyclopedia con. In the spring and fall, that is; winter was too cold for house-to-house work and summer was too hot. But given the right time of year, the old encyclopedia scam was unbeatable.”

Or so the hapless Dortmunder thinks until, after his prospect leaves the room, he hears 9-1-1 being dialed followed by sirens, and makes a fast exit from her home.

One of his criminous colleagues, Kelp, has a score in view: “I swear and I have the goods. This time I have a guaranteed winner.” Although Dortmunder is skeptical, Kelp persuades him to listen to the proposed caper, a bank robbery his nephew Victor has concocted. Victor was formerly with the FBI, which fact instantly puts Dortmunder on his guard.

The target is the temporary headquarters—a converted mobile home/trailer—across the street from the original building of Capitalists & Immigrants Trusts. The old building is being torn down and rebuilt. The plan is to steal the bank. No, not just the money within—a standard robbery effort would be far too risky—but instead to steal the trailer, transport it to a remote location that would give the robbers time to loot the safe, and then depart unseen.

Besides the aforementioned Kelp and Victor, Dortmunder’s crew consists of his chain-smoking girlfriend May, a lockman (safecracker) who goes by the name Herman X, driver Stan Murch, and Murch’s mother, who has been resentfully wearing, when necessary, a neck brace to scam an insurance policy.

Bank Shot recounts a Dortmunder caper, folks, so you know things won’t go smoothly. Its author being Donald Westlake, you’ll likely anticipate a lot of laughs, as I did. Unfortunately, they weren’t forthcoming. The book is entertaining, to be sure, but unlike some of the other Dortmunder titles I’ve read, I found this one sorely lacking in chuckle- or guffaw-out-loud moments. In fact, it wasn’t until about three-quarters of the way through or so that I came upon moments that had me smiling even a little. Consequently, although I can recommend it as a fast, pleasant read, it’s a disappointment in terms of the wonderful wackiness found in other Dortmunder and standalone comic novels by mystery Grand Master Westlake.

© 2019 Barry Ergang

Some of Derringer Award-winner Barry Ergang’s work is available at Amazon and Smashwords.

Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: The Winter Garden Mystery by Carola Dunn

The Winter Garden Mystery by Carola Dunn (St. Martins, 1995) is the second historical mystery featuring the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple, who decides to earn her living by writing feature articles about some of England’s old homes, using her social connections to gain access to them. In 1923 this was a radical step for one of her social position but one she felt she had to take after the death of her father during the flu pandemic of 1919 sent the title to a distant cousin. Her brother and her fiancé both died during World War I, leaving Daisy with no close family beyond her mother.

On her second adventure she visits Occles Hall in Cheshire, home of a school acquaintance whose confrontational mother terrifies everyone. Lady Valeria disdains Daisy’s bid for independence and secretly fears her children might choose to follow her to escape their mother’s tight hold. However, she cannot resist the idea of seeing her model home and village featured in the latest issue of Town and Country magazine. So Daisy is allowed to visit but must listen to Lady Valeria’s endless strictures while she takes notes on the hall’s history and photographs its exterior and gardens.

Daisy is in the winter garden, a sheltered corner of the property where flowers bloom even in January, when the body of the housemaid who disappeared two months earlier is discovered. Grace Moss was supposed to have run off with a travelling salesman she’d been seen talking to at the local pub. No one in the village was particularly surprised at the time: her mother did the same thing to escape Grace’s abusive father. But the discovery of her body was a surprise and a shock to everyone, even more so when the autopsy reveals her pregnancy.

Lady Valeria bulldozes the local police into a quick arrest and she is well on her way to railroading an innocent man when Daisy quietly calls Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, whom Daisy met on her first adventure. Fletcher is a widowed policeman well below Daisy’s social status and some ten years her senior, but they have stayed in touch. Fletcher finds a way to insert Scotland Yard into the investigation and promptly destroys the flimsy case against the arrested man while discovering the true culprit.

This is one of my favorite historical series. Dunn touches on the hardships of the post-war years without dwelling on them, giving the books authenticity via sideways looks at the war’s aftermath rather than a full bore spotlight on the misery and social upheaval caused by the loss of an entire generation of young men. The mystery is well written and definitely cozy, not a lot of gore, pleasant characters mostly, and happy endings for nearly everyone. A nice choice for winter reading by the fire with a cup of tea and a cat nearby.

·         Hardcover: 226 pages

·         Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (May 1, 1995)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 0312132174

·         ISBN-13: 978-0312132170

Aubrey Hamilton ©2018

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

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Platinum Blonde (1944) by Christop...

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Platinum Blonde (1944) by Christop...: The Case of the Platinum Blonde (1944) is the twenty-eighth entry in the Ludovic Travers series and one of Christopher Bush 's warti...

FFB Review: EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES by Jonathan Valin (Reviewed by Barry Ergang)

For the full list of reading suggestions today, head over to the Sweet Freedom Blog hosted by Todd Mason. 

EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES (1989) by Jonathan Valin

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

At the behest of Len Trumaine, business partner of Ira Lessing, Cincinnati-based private detective Harry Stoner travels to Covington, Kentucky to consult with Trumaine and Lessing’s young and emotionally fragile wife Janey, both of whom are deeply upset because Ira has been missing for two days. When Stoner points out that “There are all sorts of reasons why a man might drop out of sight for a short time,” both insist that Lessing is not someone whose habitual behaviors would have him do so without alerting those closest to him. Apart from being a member of one of the city’s oldest families and a businessman, he’s a city commissioner.

In pursuit of the elusive Lessing, Stoner encounters a number of the man’s relatives and associates, the majority of whom regard him as almost saintly. When Stoner’s investigation determines it’s almost certain Lessing is dead, Trumaine urges him to pursue further inquiries. When he does, Stoner learns that Lessing was murdered in a particularly torturous manner. Further digging reveals that the esteemed Lessing had a darker side to his life, one that even the closest to him would have a difficult time believing—and Stoner must confront and deal with several of them. His investigation eventually brings him face-to-face with the arrogant and vicious individual ultimately responsible for Lessing’s death.

Besides being an avid reader of detective fiction since I was a pre-teen, I spent a good many years of my life working in sales and management of high-end audio/video retail companies. What, you may be wondering, does this have to do with a mystery novel? Jonathan Valin wrote eleven Harry Stoner books (I’ve read all but one, as of this review) which have deservedly garnered praise from reviewers, and which have placed him, along with Timothy Harris, Stephen Greenleaf, Earl W. Emerson, and Loren D. Estleman, in the upper echelon of those authors who have followed and extended the footprints of Hammett, Chandler, and Ross Macdonald. (If you’re wondering why I didn’t include Robert B. Parker, it’s because I’ve long thought—heresy, you shriek!—he’s grossly overrated.) It came as both a surprise and—later on—as a disappointment that Valin gave up writing this exceptional series in favor of the audio magazine Fi he co-founded, and which eventually folded and led him to start reviewing for other audio/video ezines in favor of returning to the mystery fiction that placed him as a stellar performer in the hardboiled field. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Valin and check out the link in the second footnote beneath the article.) He was—and, presumably, still is—an excellent equipment reviewer; I can’t say because since retirement I’ve given up reading audio/video magazines.  

Be that as it may, Extenuating Circumstances in particular and the Harry Stoner series in general is recommended to those readers who aren’t offended by strong language, on-page violence, and occasional sex.

©2018 Barry Ergang

Some of Derringer Award-winner Barry Ergang’s work is available at Amazon and Smashwords. The latter site is running its annual sale through the month of July. Barry and Kevin Tipple are among the participating authors, so take advantage of their reduced prices.

SleuthSayers: Five Red Herrings VII

I am stunned by the mention here and very grateful....

SleuthSayers: Five Red Herrings VII: by Robert Lopresti 1.  Critiquing a Grand Master.   If you are a fan of the late great Donald E. Westlake you owe it to yourself to take a...

Review: " Hoods, Hot Rods, and Hellcats" edited by Chad Eagleton

The title of Hoods, Hot Rods, and Hellcats says it all even before you get to the cover tag line of Drive Fast. Kill Young. Love A Pretty Girl. This anthology edited by Chad Eagleton certainly delivers on that premise. The image of the 50's depicted in Happy Days, American Graffiti, and others is quickly shattered by the introduction by Mick Farren. It sets a tone that is held up quite well by the eight authors involved in the book.

Coming up first is Christoper Grant with “1958: Somewhere In Texas” where three young lesbians are on a robbery and killing spree. Shifting in time back and forth across several months it becomes clear how things began and escalated quickly.

“Red Hot” by Thomas Puck follows next with a tale of Bobby, Karen, and the love of fast cars and beautiful woman. Both are equally dangerous and like a lot of other things can end up being expensive in so many ways.

Don Bayliss likes to steal things. It is a passion for him. 17 year old Sharon has ignited another passion in “Forlorn Hope” by Matthew Funk. Having seen combat he is looking for something. He isn't the only one looking.

Brothers Charlie and Butch rob places in “Only The Vultures Will See Me Hang” by Nik Korpon. Both served and saw combat and get along well enough most of the time. Then, there are the other times when plans don't go so well just like what often happened in combat.

A guitar is the supreme goal for John. Growing up in a Christian household he should have known not to steal it. But, he did and then things got rough in “Lola” by Eric Beetner.

Editor Chad Eagleton comes next with his tale “Blue Jeans And A Boy's shirt. “ A fast car, a sawed off shotgun, and a girl walking on a bridge change the future for Lonnie Bonner. Like other stories in the anthology, combat flashbacks play a major role in this tale. Combat that though it happened in the past still fuels the actions of Lonnie now as well as many others in these tales.

“Scarred Angel” by Heath Lowrance comes next with a tale where a beautiful hellcat is the one driving the action. Unlike most of the preceding stories where the guys are running things (or at least appear to be) in this case a woman dubbed “Frankie Scar” is definitely running the show. Scotty knew she was something when he saw her at “Jimmy Bo's.” Thanks to his buddies he finally went and said hello. Thanks to her he soon was on a wild ride he would be lucky to survive.

“Headless Hoggy Style” by David James Keaton is the final and possibly the most disturbing story of the anthology. Jake is never sure what Cherry is thinking. He plans on getting her to talk and Uncle Jake might be able to help. He also has some things to do as does his Uncle in this dark tale.

The book closes with an acknowledgments section detailing the contributions of those who kept the project alive followed by detailed bios of the contributor's.

Reviewing a collection or an anthology is tough as one does not want to give away too much and ruin the stories. This was certainly the case here with these very complicated tales. They are violence filled short stories peopled by characters that usually do what they want when they want to do it. Adult language, adult situations, and more fill the pages of this anthology that proves the point made in the introduction. There was a very dark and very violent side to the 50's and Hoods, Hot Rods and Hellcats gives you a small glimpse of that along with some solidly good stories.

Hoods, Hot Rods, and Hellcats

Editor Chad Eagleton

http://cathodeangel.blogspot.com/

Self Published

August 2013

ISBN# 978-1491002537

Paperback (e-book available)

162 Pages

$8.00

E-book was provided by the editor in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple (c)2014

FFB Review: "The Zebra-Striped Hearse" by Ross Macdonald--Reviewed by Patrick Ohl

Patrick Ohl is back this week for Friday Forgotten Books hosted by Patti Abbott. If things are still running as scheduled, this week Evan Lewis will be doing the links later today on his Davey Crockett’s Almanack of Mystery, Adventure, and The Wild West. A blog you should already be reading and enjoying so if you don’t know about it, get with the program. Today Patrick reviews The Zebra-Striped Hearse by Ross Macdonald.

Raymond Chandler is known for creating mean streets on which his detective, Phillip Marlowe, would walk. Ross Macdonald, however, took the hardboiled genre in a new direction by creating Lew Archer, a private detective who was sensitive. The Zebra-Striped Hearse was published in 1962, three years after 1959’s The Galton Case, which was the first book by Ross Macdonald that I read.

Macdonald’s The Zebra-Striped Hearse is an intricately plotted book that keeps twisting and turning long after you think it’s finished. The story revolves around Colonel Blackwell, who consults Lew Archer about his daughter, Harriet. A month ago, she met a man named Burke Damis in Mexico, and now she wants to marry him. But the Colonel, overly protective of his daughter, senses that the young man is as phony as a three-dollar bill, and he hires Archer to look into Damis’ past life in order to uncover just what he is up to and expose him to Harriet.

Audio

The resulting plot is a complex one, and Macdonald uses it to tell a powerful story. These aren’t the mean, gangster-infested streets of Raymond Chandler. Rather, Macdonald takes crime and puts it into the neighbourhood, where even that nice old lady who lived down the street might have some connection with the murder in the newspaper headlines. In a way, the story is similar to that of The Galton Case; both novels evoke the loss of a child and the loss of a parent, both of which Ross Macdonald experienced. In both, Lew Archer sometimes seems more like a family therapist than a traditional private eye. Some use this to criticise Macdonald, saying that he wrote the same book over and over again. I can see the point, but from what I’ve seen, Macdonald uses a somewhat similar formula but produces something brilliant both times. The result is highly readable, literate, and there’s a note of genuine passion underscoring the book. That kind of combination is just outstanding.

Incidentally, I was expecting the titular “zebra-striped hearse” to be some crazy metaphor about life and death and stuff, because that’s kind of what I got to expect from the hardboiled, with titles like The Big Sleep or The Long Goodbye… but it’s an actual hearse, and it has actual zebra stripes. It pops up every once in a while as Lew Archer investigates. This alone makes the book worth a read.

Lew Archer is a decent sort in a tragic world, trying to help the victims of violent crime while bringing the guilty party to justice. In The Zebra-Striped Hearse, Macondald’s mystery is fairly clued, with complexity that could match wits with a Golden Ag author any day. But most intriguing of all is the way Macdonald uses the mystery to create a small piece of art that wouldn’t disgrace the pages of a “serious” literary author. The theme of loss and the family struggling to stay together have poignant notes to it that I like very much. I can’t think of something the book does wrong… and that’s always a good sign. Ross Macdonald apparently considered it one of his best books, and it was nominated for “Best Novel” at the 1963 Edgar Awards. It was beaten by Ellis Peters’ Death and the Joyful Woman, which I have yet to read…

To read The Zebra-Striped Hearse, I relied largely on an audio recording I’ve taken a great fancy to. It is complete and unabridged, but read by a full cast, with Harris Yulin as Lew Archer. The musical scores are well-placed, and the sound effects (like someone knocking at the door or the ocean being heard in the distance) really enhanced the reading experience for me. If you get a chance to listen to this recording, I highly recommend it.

Patrick Ohl ©2014

Make sure to read more of Patrick’s excellent work here on the blog as well as his website At The Scene Of The Crime.

Via Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Now Available in All E-book Formats

In case you are curious I have reviewed A GHOST OF A CHANCE.

Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Now Available in All E-book Formats: Get it at Amazon  now, or in other outlets soon.

Interview With Jenny Milchman

As a reviewer I am supposed to be objective at all times about every author and their books. But, I am a reader too and that results in being a fan at times. One of those cases is with Jenny Milchman. You might have heard of her. She wrote this most excellent book called Cover Of Snow.

She has written a second book that will be out later this year. I suggested she called it Shawl of Heat, but she didn't go for that. I came up with another couple of titles and instead she added some character based on Earl Staggs. Not sure what is up with that. I think that dude gets enough press online as it is.

Anyway, Jenny is over here today being interviewed so go check it out. And, if somehow, you have not read Cover of Snow get going. I recently reviewed it here if my saying it is excellent needs more detail.

Review: "Archie Solves The Case" by Dave Zeltserman

Boston’s brilliant investigator Julius Katz does not work unless he absolutely has to make some money. For his artificial intelligence sidekick, Archie, this is a frustration. As much as he can feel or recognize frustration, because Archie uses their cases to build on his neural network. Archie does not expect Julius Katz to meet with this latest potential client, Henri Chervil, but Julius surprises him and easily agrees to a meeting.

Julius soon figures out why the legendary detective agreed to meet Chervil as well as why Chervil wants him. Since Chervil was arrested by Cambridge Police for assaulting a fellow chief by the name of Jasper Quayle it seems pretty obvious what he wants. What Julius wants seems obvious as well to Archie. However, as Archie soon learns, not everything is in the files and databases and real people are often far more complex than their fictional counterparts.

Another good in one the series featuring Julius Katz. As always the dialogue between Archie and Julius runs true along with the occasional flash of humor. Like many with are artistic temperament, Julius is often a bit prickly at times, but he gets the job done in always enjoyable ways.

The tone of the book radically changes with the other stories in this book. Dave Zeltsman has a tendency to go to the horror genre as evidenced by Monster, The Caretaker of Lorne Field (which still hits me as more science fiction than horror in a view not shared by many) and other works. That tendency is quickly evidenced here in the short stories “Pink Wiggly Things” and “King” and is at times present in the other stories as well.

“Pink Wiggly Things” is told from the perspective of something under a bed that is looking for food. What that thing is under the bed is left somewhat open to reader interpretation as are a couple of other elements.

“King” is the tale of Mary Crowley an elderly woman known to one and all as “the crazy pigeon lady.” That would have been fine, as bad as that was, if things had been left alone. Her birds in the park were not left alone and she has a plan.

Craig and Susan frequently argue in front of others in “Old Wives’ Tales.” Craig has plans and those are not exactly a secret either.

“’Til Death Do You Part” features Roy. He is a man who is intent on being the only one for Charlotte. Or maybe that was really her plan all along. Hard to tell in this strange tale where nothing is as it seems.

This is a book of serious extremes. One end of the spectrum represented by the opening story of the book title Archie Solves The Case where the topic is serious, but there is a light touch at work throughout the read. A cozy style story that, like other stories featuring Julius Katz and Archie, plays respectful homage to Nero Wolfe while creating a thoroughly modern world. The tales may detail some human failings but the tone overall is light and gentle.

Then you have the rest of the book which has nothing at all to do with Archie, Julius Katz, or those stories. Nothing on the cover would indicate to readers that they are getting anything but Julius Katz, but the rest of the read is filled with stories that are dark and twisted and often with elements of the horror genre. Even the stories which are not clearly horrific are very creepy and disturbing at various levels. They serve as quite a clash with the Julius Katz story and may surprise some readers expecting a read in the vein of Julius Katz.

Archie Solves The Case

Dave Zeltserman

http://www.hardluckstories.com

Top Suspense Books

http://topsuspense.blogspot.com/

May 2013

ASIN: B00CRRFPYU

E-Book

78 Pages

$3.50

Amazon advises me I picked this up last November. The author is very generous in making his titles available as free reads and I can’t remember now if I got it that way or he sent it to me directly. Either way it was for my use in an objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014

New Reviews on Euro Crime: Chatterton, Craig, Hannah, Holt, Lawton, Leather, Rickman, Shepherd, Yates

As posted elsewhere earlier today....

 As usual this set of reviews, added to Euro Crime today, is a mixture of new reviews and a catch-up of those posted directly on the blog in the last two weeks.

New Reviews:

JF reviews 'Down Among the Dead Men' by Ed Chatterton, the second in the DCI Frank Keane series, set in Liverpool and this time also LA;

Geoff Jones reviews James Craig's 'The Circus', the fourth in the DI John Carlyle series set in London;

Amanda Gillies reviews 'Monument to Murder' by Mari Hannah, the fourth in the DCI Kate Daniels series set in Northumberland;

Lynn Harvey reviews Anne Holt's 'Blessed Are Those Who Thirst' tr. Anne Bruce, the second outing for Oslo's Detective Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen;

Norman Price reviews 'Then We Take Berlin' by John Lawton, a non-Troy book which "...certainly meets the Troy standard of eccentricity, humour, meticulous historical research and readability";

Terry Halligan reviews Stephen Leather's 'True Colours', the tenth in the "Spider" series;

Rich Westwood reviews 'The Magus of Hay' by Phil Rickman, the twelfth book in the Merrily Watkins series;

Terry also reviews Lynn Shepherd's 'A Treacherous Likeness the third in the Charles Maddox series, this time involving a mystery around the Shelleys

and Amanda also reviews Christopher J Yates's debut 'Black Chalk', starting her review with: "Oh this book is seriously good".

http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/review_list.html or via the blog: http://eurocrime.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/new-reviews-chatterton-craig-hannah.html.

Forthcoming titles can be found by author or date or by category, here (http://eurocrime.co.uk/future_releases.html) along with releases by year.

There is also a Euro Crime page on Facebook which you can like and will keep you up to date with what's on the blog (plus occasional extras).
(https://www.facebook.com/eurocrimewebsite)

best wishes,
Karen M
@eurocrime

Current Read

Third in the Bill Travis mystery series that began with THE LAST CALL.... 

 
Amazon Synopsis Description:

 What is the "blue bone" and what does a seventeenth-century French ship have to do with East Texas?

When Bill Travis gets the word that his best friend has been murdered, he not only has to take a trip back to the town where he grew up, he has to go up against some old ghosts who were better left alone.

What modern secrets lie hidden in the dark beneath the countryside where Bill grew up? And what darker, more ancient secret lies hidden beneath them?

Barry Got Reviewed!

I had a bad evening last night as did Sandi so it was early to bed for both of us. So, it wasn't until this morning that, while going through the accumulated e-mail, I discovered that Barry Ergang had his two currently free stories at Smashwords reviewed.

On the "Not The Baseball Pitcher" blog, Randy Johnson reviews the two stories in question. After you read the reviews, stick around and read Randy's blog. Always worthwhile and lots of good stuff there.

And read Barry's stuff!


Kevin

Review: "Hell Is Empty: A Walt Longmire Mystery" by Craig Johnson

It’s May in Wyoming and Sheriff Walt Longmire would like to get the prisoner transfer finished and go home as he has plans. It has been a long day already and having to stop for food at the South Fork Lodge in the heart of the Bighorn Mountains was a necessary risk. Sheriff Longmire and Santiago are transporting three murderers to the custody of the FBI and private company transport guards and will meet them soon. Once the prisoners are turned over their work will be done.

But, of course, things are not going to be that simple at all.

Instead of going to Vic’s new house for dinner this night, Sheriff Walt Longmire is about to go on a journey worthy of Dante’s Inferno.  The prisoners manage to escape with hostages from the FBI team leaving a burning gas station and numerous bodies in their wake.  It now is left to Sheriff Walt Longmire to continue the dangerous pursuit hour by hour higher into the mountains despite an incredible late season snow storm that makes assistance for him impossible.

When you open a Craig Johnson book, the real world quickly falls away and you get immersed in the story.  The same is true in Hell Is Empty from the award winning author with a tale that explores mysticism, reality and personal endurance and survival. The line between reality and fantasy is blurred for much of the second half of this book that ends with no easy answers.  While some may complain that there is not the usual normal level of interaction between Walt and the cast of characters in this series, that criticism completely misses the obvious point of this very complex novel. This novel is more of a personal journey tale, pushing the limits of endurance, and one expects will fundamentally change this character for books to come.

 

Seven books into the series the reads just keep getting better and better. This very complex tale, nearly impossible to describe in any depth without ruining the read, simply might be the best one yet.

The series absolutely must be read in order and begins with the very good The Cold Dish. If you don't read these in order you will really miss out on major character development.

Hell Is Empty: A Walt Longmire Mystery

Craig Johnson

http://www.craigallenjohnson.com

Viking (Penguin Group)

http://www.vpbookclub.com

2011

ISBN#978-0-670-02277-9

Hardback

312 Pages

$25.95

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2011

Review: "The End Of Everything" by Megan Abbott

Before it happened it seemed to 13 year old Lizzie Hood that the Verner family next door was perfect in every way. Lizzie had been friends with Evie for what seemed like forever and spent almost every waking moment in her company. Evie’s mom is bland and unassuming. Evie’s sister, Dusty, rules home and school where nearly every guy wants her and yet none can have her. Unlike lizzie’s own father who has left the house and moved on with his life thanks to the divorce, Evie’s father, Mr. Verner, is not only constantly around, he might be the most perfect father and man on earth. All is right in the world as school winds down and the two girls have a summer to look forward to before starting High School.

Then, the unthinkable happens and Evie vanishes one afternoon. Evie and Lizzie were going to walk home but Lizzie’s mom picked her up instead so that they could go to the Mall. Evie was supposed to go on home but never made it there. Now Evie is missing and the perfect world next door is starting to crack in so many ways.

As the days pass with Evie missing, author Megan Abbott skillfully weaves in clues, backstory, and tension to show characters that are evolving and changing in many ways while the story itself becomes much more complex. The disappearance truly does bring about “The End of Everything” in so many ways as Lizzie comes to grips with the idea that things next door were not so perfect after all. While the Verver family fractures in ways that one would somewhat expect as well as ways one wouldn’t, Lizzie’s whole world changes. Perceptions of what was real and what was fantasy, before and after the abduction, change as does her understanding of her own motivations and feelings. In a way, there is a certain coming of age aspect to this complex novel as Lizzie is forced to confront things that were, in some form, always there but far beneath the surface.

From a reviewer standpoint, this is a difficult book to review without sharing far too much. It is also one that is hard to explain concisely as the complex book goes in many different ways at the same time raising far more questions than it answers. Adult, and sometimes disturbing, themes are very strong in this book and will produce strong reactions from some readers. Much is implied or hinted at though how seriously to take it as actual character feeling/motivation is up to the reader.

As reviews elsewhere make abundantly clear while also often telling far too much, this is one of those novels that how the reader reads between the lines will determine much more about what the book means or says to the reader than what the author actually wrote. Deceptively short at 246 pages of actual story this is a very good book. “The End Of Everything” by Megan Abbott is a book packed with complex characters, deep emotion, and a complex mystery that will keep you thinking long after you close the book.

The End of Everything: A Novel

Megan Abbott

http://www.meganabbott.com/

A Reagan Arthur Book (Little, Brown And Company)

http://www.haschettebookgroup.com

July 2011

ISBN# 978-0-09779-6

Hardback

256 Pages

$23.99

Material supplied by Patti Abbot via a contest on her blog several months ago with no expectation of any review.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2011

FFB Review: "Back on Murder" by J. Mark Bertrand

Normally for Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted by Patti Abbott, I would not run a review I had done so recently. However, since I am currently reading the recently released sequel, Pattern of Wounds, I thought it would be worth it to cover the first book once again…..

For some police officers the dead body is the end of the case. The search for the living is over and there is nothing left to do. For homicide detectives the body is the start. The dead body is the door opening on a case waiting to be solved. For Homicide Detective Ronald March, the results of a shootout in southwest Houston are his ticket back to fully functioning in Homicide and ending his exile of being farmed out on garbage details.

If he does not screw it up.

Since that fateful tragic day seven years ago, things have not been right personally or professionally. What happens over the next few weeks and months in the summer and fall of 2008 might be his last chance at everything.

A local loan shark by the name of Octavio Morales is dead as are several of his criminal associates. Detective March should not even be in the house surveying the carnage as he has fallen out of favor with his bosses. But, a house full of dead gang bangers brings out everyone and March couldn't stay away. It has been far too long since he last worked a real murder case and he burns with the need to work one. He surveys the scene and only March spots the evidence that indicates that a hostage was there and now is gone.

Despite the fact that he alone found the evidence, March is still locked into the bottom of the pecking order and wasting his time with crummy assignments. Whether it is the frequent sting operations enticing bad guys to show up and claim the cars they won, the cop suicides he gets stuck with, or a number of others, the details are garbage jobs. March has earned his bottom feeder status and he isn't going anywhere. At least, until he spotted the evidence that no one else noticed and changed the case from a routine killing to a missing hostage search. That earns him a temporary reprieve and minor league status in the Morales case.

Assuming he doesn't screw up.

But, he will. He does. And yet, March also makes his own kind of twisted luck. It may be tarnished luck but under all the slime there is luck and every now and then he comes through in a strange way.

This debut mystery by author J. Mark Bertrand features the usual stereotypical elements of a burned out detective, a nearly destroyed marriage thanks to personal tragedy, and a city that is little more than a cesspool with a population stirred up by a hysterical media tracking a missing person's case. Usually these sorts of books are set in Los Angeles. Instead, the former Texas resident set it in Houston and also managed to weave in Hurricane Ike from a couple of years back along the way.

Somehow, despite beating the stereotype drum in nearly every area, J. Mark Bertrand makes it work. Before long, one gets pulled in the noirish style world of Ronald March where he frequently makes mistakes and yet survives against all the odds. Psychology is a huge part of this novel and March quickly becomes not only your friend but a guy you know that just seems to always have the deck stacked against him. He can't play politics, goes his own way and does not fit in, and yet manages to always get the job done.

The author's MFA in creative writing from the University of Houston shows throughout the debut novel as one gets the feeling every character trait and plot point is orchestrated for effect in order to make a nice neat check mark on the master list. At the same time, when he is actively working and on the chase, occasional overwriting and stereotypical blemishes vanish as Mr. Bertrand brings the scenes alive so well you can almost taste it. It is when the action slows and March becomes contemplative about his life and what has happened that the novel drifts a bit. That also means occasional errors in grammar, pacing, the timeline of the novel, etc. are glaringly more present.

Just like in real life not everything in Back On Murder is tied up in a nice neat package. While most plot lines are tied off well, one minor storyline involving a tenant is cut off way too nice and neat. It comes to an abrupt dead stop and results in a missed opportunity for further character development and secondary plot. Considering how hard the storyline had been pushed up until the abrupt ending, the reader is left to wonder why it just suddenly ended in that way.

Overall, the novel is good, but not as great as it could be. This may be a case where writers would be a bit harsher in their criticism of the book than the average reader as we recognize the tricks being used to tell the tale. Still, the read is full of mystery, political infighting, action, and no easy answers and results in a 382 book that will keep you guessing most of the way through. J. Mark Bertrand has a fairly decent foundation of a series to work from based on this book. It will be interesting to see how it goes in the next novel in the series, Pattern Of Wounds, scheduled to be published this July by Bethany House. 

Back On Murder: A Roland March Mystery
J. Mark Bertrand
Bethany House (A Division of Baker Publishing Group)
July 2010
ISBN# 978-0-7642-0637-5
Paperback
384 Pages
$14.99


Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2011

FFB Review: "It Isn't Easy being Johnny Style" by Patrick K. Jassoy

Every High School has a bully—at least one that makes life hard on everyone else while the teaching staff never notices a thing. Often it is High School where the deviant mind first shows up and begins to explore the nature of evil and its seductive power. Unchecked then, it isn’t surprising when that same deviant mind makes the papers years later as a result of criminal activity often horrific and appalling. 




In the here and now, Johnny Style is a private detective, lonely and broke on New Year’s Eve. When turned down by the right lady for the right now, Style begins to head back to his office for no real reason other than he has nothing else to do. After a couple of encounters with various people along the way, he finds an old friend by the name of Jimmy C. on the stoop in front of his office building. Jimmy C. has been savagely beaten with his lips sewed shut and is very near death. Style manages to cut his lips apart and Jimmy C. tells him that Santana Santiago did it over a drug debt before passing away in his arms.

This isn’t the first time Santiago has killed someone close to Style. Johnny Style and Santana Santiago have clashed since High School when Style, new to the area and the school, inadvertently got into Santiago’s way. When Style began dating Anita, Santiago’s girlfriend, it made things personal and something never man has ever gotten over. What should have been over by graduation instead has turned into a sort of blood feud with Santiago taking his growing rage and need for vengeance out on Style’s friends. Style hasn’t been able to stop him and finally, Santiago seems ready to finish the game, once and for all.

Written in the stylistic style of the old pulp fiction novels, this 165-page read was very fast and very good. While I, as a reader, am not a fan of the use of flashbacks, the nearly 100 page continuous flashback in this novel works and works well. By doing so and in such great detail, the author not only provides a foundation for this book as to how it all began for Style but for the planned series as a whole.

With such a cast of unique characters as well as a strong, complex protagonist, this book is well worth reading. Assuming the author lives up to the potential and unique style of his voice, this should be the start of a very enjoyable series.


It Isn’t Easy Being Johnny Style 
Patrick K. Jassoy
Booklocker
March 2003
ISBN # 1-59113-152-9
Large Trade Paperback 
176 Pages
$13.95






Material supplied by the author at the time in exchange for my objective review. Sadly, since the above review was written in 2003, it seems that the author has not published another book.



Patti Abbott was unavailable today to collect links, so for the complete list of books for Friday's Forgotten Books surf over to Todd Mason's always excellent blog, Sweet Freedom.


Kevin R. Tipple (c)2011