Review: One Good Eye: A Jeep Mullane Novel by Kevin Wade

One Good Eye: A Jeep Mullane Novel by Kevin Wade is the second read in the series that began with Johnny Careless. I very much liked that first book and was glad to be approved for an ARC the week before publication on the Edelweiss platform.

 

Tropical Storm Kyle is headed inbound and Centre Brookville Chief of Police Jeep Mullane is out and about on Long Island’s North Shore. He is handing out batteries and bottled water and checking on folks as the storm comes ever closer. So, he’s already fairly close by when he gets an urgent text from Nicole. She drives for Jenny Racine and has requested Jeep come to the house. Jeep has known Jenny Racine since high school.

 

Without revealing spoilers, they have a very tight bond and a complicated history that goes back to those high school days. In the here and now, she is fairly famous for good and bad reasons, is wealthy, and is in real trouble though she does not want any help. Nicole is ex-Suffolk County PD and carries, but Jenny needs on duty cops and more assistance than her longtime driver and friend can provide.

 

Even if Nicole had not filled in Jeep Mullane on his arrival, one look at Jenny’s face makes her need for help clear. She’s been punched in the face and is visibly marked. She’s also been hit hard in her rib cage on her right side. She says the masked man was in her master bedroom when she walked in, never said a word, hit her, and fled. She has an idea who did it, and even knows why, but makes it very clear that she isn’t going to tell him or anyone. Jenny isn’t going to file a police report. She wants him to leave it alone as she plans on continuing to handle everything privately.

 

But, this is Jenny. Jeep Mullane isn’t going to let her take a beating and do nothing.

 

Jeep Mullane starts poking around and then the feds show up. Soon after they make their presence known, the killing starts in, One Good Eye: A Jeep Mullane Novel. Complicated with plenty of flashbacks to explain the deep relationship between Jenny and Jeep, this is a compelling and fast moving read that keeps the reader (at least this one) rapidly turning pages.

 

There is quite a lot going on in One Good Eye: A Jeep Mullane Novel  by Kevin Wade. Many of the things cannot be explained without creating spoilers. I can say that the book is a mighty good read and well worth your time. Strongly recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3U6uDIK

 

My digital ARC came from the publisher, Celadon Books, through Edelweiss, with no expectation of a positive review.

  

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: The Tailor by Tim Sullivan

 Lesa's Book Critiques: The Tailor by Tim Sullivan

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

 

Who would kill a bespoke tailor?

 

That is the initial central question for DS George Cross of the Avon and Somerset police in The Tailor: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan. This eighth book in the series opens with a murder on a train. There is absolutely no question it was a murder.

 

The deceased man was found in the first-class bathroom of a passenger train headed from Bristol to Paddington Cross in London. Apparently, the plastic bag over his head did not fully do the job, so the killer deeply slashed the victim’s throat. He cut so deeply that the killer almost severed the head from the body.

 

That got the job done.

 

He also got away with it with nobody noticing anything at all.

 

Because the victim was wearing a bespoke suit with the label of “Titcomb & Titcomb’s of Park Street,” Detective Sergeant George Cross believes there is a good chance that the deceased is one of their clients. Within a short period of time, they learn that the deceased is one William Titcomb.

 

Not a client, but one of the owners of a long running family business. A third-generation tailor, William Titcomb was married to Min, and had two small children. His twin sister, Gwen, is also heavily involved in the business.

 

According to Gwen, he was headed to Heathrow Airport to board a flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for fittings with two clients. Then he was to travel on to Xiamen, China, where they have a tailoring operation and check in there. Min comes from China, has contacts, and the facility in China has been a huge boost to the family business. Mr. Titcomb was traveling with two suitcases, presumably full with the suits for the clients in Dubai. Those  suitcases and their contents are missing.

 

Where are the suitcases? Who killed the bespoke tailor? Was he killed for the suits?

 

Just some of the questions that DS George Cross and the assembled team must answer in The Tailor: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan. If the case was not enough, Cross and several others have to deal with professional and personal upheaval in their lives. For one thing, as long-time readers know, Josie Ottey, has been promoted. That means she is now superior in rank to Cross.

 

An issue that Cross is slowly adjusting to as it has been very hard for him as social situations are very difficult. Ottey’s promotion means that she will no longer be with him in the field conducting interviews and gathering information. That fact also means that she won’t be around to manage him or smooth over awkward situations with those he talks to as he goes about investigations. That has the potential to be a real problem for Cross and a huge problem for the next person in that role.

 

Then there is a family situation for Cross that is best left to the reader to discover. I don’t want to reveal more as it could be construed as a spoiler as it is a major piece of the plot. However, for those readers, like me, who have gone through the death of a loved one due to cancer and absolutely hate cancer storylines, it is not that. In fact, the issue here is not remotely medically related in any way, shape, or form. You can rest easy on that aspect of the read.

 

The Tailor: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan is a complicated, fast moving, and highly entertaining read. Much is going on in many different ways in the latest book in this long running series. This review just skims the surface of this very good book.

 

Strongly Recommended.

 

Author Website: https://timsullivanusa.com/ 

 

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

 

My digital ARC came from the publisher, Grove Atlantic, of Atlantic Crime, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Review: Dark Harbor: A Detective Justice Novel by Bruce Robert Coffin

Dark Harbor: A Detective Justice Novel by Bruce Robert Coffin is the latest read in an excellent police procedural series that began with Crimson Thaw. As always, it is best to read in order though one could start here if you really wanted to do so.

 

Granville Warren III is wealthy and one of those guys who has to make sure everyone knows he has the best of everything. He has the best house, the best car, the best boat, and certainly the best wife. The former Lily Marshall is his third wife and is far younger and very beautiful. After a day of sailing, they have returned to their mansion in Maine and are planning on going out to dinner.

 

That plan died, along with Granville Warren III, within minutes of their arrival home thanks to the intruders in the mansion. He died, as did one of the intruders, and that is the latest case for Maine State Police Detective Brock Justice and his partner, Detective Chole Wright, and the rest of their team.

 

According to the wife who was found by local responding police officers wearing a bloody bathrobe and holding a gun, she shot and killed the intruder after he had shot her husband. The Warren’s were very wealthy and the local power brokers in the community. Everyone knew them and often had jobs because of them or some other very strong connection. That includes the local police chief who was very tight with them as the couple routinely donated funds and equipment to the local small department.

 

That local dynamic makes the investigation more difficult. One of several difficulties that will rear their ugly heads in Dark Harbor: A Detective Justice Novel.

 

This is a great police procedural series. Led by the main character, Brock Justice, and numerous returning secondary characters, the read is complicated and a real page turning pleasure to read. Every book gives a little more on the background of Justice and others and this one is no exception. 

Highly recommended, as is the entire series. This read and the others are available on Kindle Unlimited.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:

 https://link.amazon/B00vzLBER

Amazon Associate Series Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4bfNpTR

 

 

My digital ARC came directly from the publisher, Severn River Publishing, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Review: Wildwood: A Novel by Amy Pease

Wildwood: A Novel by Amy Pease is the second book in the series that began with the very good Northwoods. As the book begins, it is October in North Wisconsin and Eli North is in a far better place mentally. He’s quit drinking, is in therapy for PTSD and other issues, and is coping with everything better than he has been in  some time. He’s still working for his mom, the sheriff, who ordered him to take the day off. So, he started the day chopping wood. Not only is it therapeutic for him, it is being proactive as winter is coming.

 

His day off is soon out the window when his mom calls him in. With only three members of the Sherman County Sherrif’s Department, one of whom is the dispatcher, she did not really have a choice. Sheriff Marge North might have dealt with the missing woman case on her own.

 

But, she got into the home, and judging from the blood sprayed on the bedroom walls, probably Trinity Campanella is dead. If so, they are looking for a body and a killer. There are other troubling signs in the home as well.

 

So, she needs her son and fellow officer, Eli North, and other outside resources. She had not reached out to the FBI and yet they have shown up in form of FBI Agent Alyssa Mason. They dealt with her last summer and now she is suddenly back in Shaky Lake, Wisconsin, and has arrived, unannounced, at her crime scene. She has also brought an undercover DEA agent with her. For good reasons too in an increasingly complicated case and a mighty good read.

 

While this could be read first, if one so desired, I recommend reading the series in order to see how things are evolving for the characters involved. Both books are very good and strongly recommended.

 

As I was with the first book, I am indebted to a comment on Lesa Holstine’s What Are You Reading blog posts. I had no idea this was even out until I saw the news there and requested the book via my library. The read is also available by way of Kindle Unlimited (as is the first) so I read it that way in a larger font than the hardback library book.

 

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

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Series Link: https://amzn.to/4pEdG4l

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of July 26, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of July 26, 2026

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

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Review: Dirty Little Town: A River City Novel by Frank Zafiro

When I recently read and reviewed Frank Zafiro’s cozy mystery novellas (Hallmarks of the Job, Shades of the Job), I was reminded that I was way behind in my reading of his police procedural River City series. I knew I was behind. I had no idea how far behind I was. Dirty Little Town: A River City Novel is the seventh book in the series and was released back in November 2021.

 

The read opens in August 2003 and a bit after the events in Place of Wrath and Tears. Officer Katie Macleod has been through some things. In the here and now, she’s getting a provisional promotion to detective and being assigned to assist Detective Browning on his hunt for a serial killer. No pay bump due to contract issues, and it leaves patrol shorthanded due to ongoing staffing issues due to budget and contract issues, but it could give the department some positive PR at a time when that is very much needed. It also gives her a chance to shine. She’s been an officer for twelve years. But being a detective is like starting all over again.

 

As is the department as a whole because the mayor has installed a new chief of police. Chief of Police Richard Sannael has arrived and Captain Robert Saylor is way less than impressed. It does not help that Saylor had been the acting Police Chief after being appointed to the position by the previous mayor.

 

The recent election went way different than planned or expected, and the new mayor has been a micromanager and problematic. This new chief selected by the mayor seems to be focused on casting blame and making changes that will make things worse and sacrifice loyal officers to do it. He is a political animal and maybe something worse.

 

These are just two of a number of storylines at work in Dirty Little Town: A River City Novel. I have long said that if you loved the work of Ed McBain, the tv shows Hill Street Blues, Southland, Line of Duty, Blue Lights, and other authors and shows, you will love this series. These books detail police work and the men and women who do the job. It showcases them off shift just as much and how their jobs affect their personal lives.

 

This series has evolving and ageing characters, like any really good series, and that always results in good reading. Such is the case here. As always with any good series, start at the beginning and work your way forward. In this case begin with Under a Raging Moon.

  

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4b80yye

 

 

According to Amazon, I picked this up back in November 2021. I suspect it was by funds in my Amazon Associate account, but I do not know that for sure.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Short Story Wednesday Review: The Last Laugh by Robert Jakues (Thriller Magazine: June 2026)

  

The police procedural short story, The Last Laugh, by Robert Jakues appears in the Thriller Magazine: June 2026 issue and it is a very good tale. The story opens with Detective opens with Detective Pilsudski being awakened by Sergeant Jack Couch calling him at home long before dawn. Pilsudski is the weekend on call Homicide Detective in South Central Los Angeles. There is a body and he is needed. Before long he meets his partner Detective Jim Hampton at their 77th street station house. Together, they head to the scene.

 

It is mid-winter and the chilly night air off the Pacific certainly isn’t warming anything or anyone on the deserted streets.

 

The dead man is sprawled out on the sidewalk mid-block on Dalton Avenue. He’s been shot in the back of the head. When the body is rolled on its side by the coroner investigator, he found an open black wallet. Inside, the driver’s license identifies the dead man as Gaylord Pettis. Now it is up to Detective Pilsudski and Hampton to determine who killed Mr. Gaylord Pettis and why in this very good short story by Robert Jakues.

 

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

 

 

My digital reading copy came by way of my ninety-day free Kindle Unlimited trial.

  

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Framed for Murder by T.L. Haseeb

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Framed for Murder by T.L. Haseeb

Beneath the Stains of Time: Out for Delivery: "The Jersey Devil" (1971) by Edward D. Hoch

Beneath the Stains of Time: Out for Delivery: "The Jersey Devil" (1971) by Edw...: Some months ago, I reviewed a short story from Edward D. Hoch's Captain Leopold series, " The Rainy-Day Bandit " (1970), which...

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan

Lesa's Book Critiques: Missing by E.A. Jackson

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Missing by E.A. Jackson

Lesa's Book Critiques: The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan

 Lesa's Book Critiques: The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan

Happiness Is A Book: The Big Thaw by Donald Harstad

 Happiness Is A Book: The Big Thaw by Donald Harstad

Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: GLORY IN DEATH

Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: GLORY IN DEATH: Glory in Death  by "J. D. Robb" (Nora Roberts), 1995. Okay, so here's my plan.  I am going to live forever, or at least for a ...

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: 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

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of May 10, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of May 10, 2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Deadly Force by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Deadly Force by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles