Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Beach Blonde Betrayal by Elaine Viets
Showing posts with label series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label series. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2026
Sunday, July 05, 2026
Review: Beach Blonde Betrayal: A Florida Beach Mystery by Elaine Viets
This book comes out this Tuesday….
Having previously read the first book of
this series, Sex and Death on the Beach, I happily requested Beach
Blonde Betrayal when it appeared on NetGalley. As the publisher, Severn
House, has had me preapproved for anything in their vast catalog for years now,
I was quickly able to download the book and start reading. There is less sex on
the beach, but a lot more murder in this installment of The Florida Beach
Mysteries.
Nora McCarthy, a native Floridian, owns
and operates, “The Florodora” in Peerless Point. The classic apartment building
sits on the beach approximately at the midpoint between Fort Lauderdale and
Miami, Florida. Her tenants, beyond her boyfriend Dean who has law enforcement experience
and is now in exile in Witness Protection for very good reason, are people who
honor the idea of the Florida Man/Woman you see in news reports. But, they do
it in good ways by being eccentric, colorful, trusting of others, and bastions
of the South Florida culture and style. They are all fun, eccentric, and play a
major role in keeping the building alive and vibrant.
Because of the way they are, they could
be a bit more susceptible to romance scams than the average person. It is also
way easier for the police, in a separate storyline, to suspect one of their own
as the culprit behind a string of murders of blonde women found dead on the
beach. Both are in play in this complicated mystery that also features a separate
murder just outside the four story Florodora apartment building as well.
Fortunately, Norah has a knack for investigation
and Dean is present to assist with his law enforcement investigative skills. As
they deal with new issues in their personal relationship and hurt feelings,
they unite to help their fellow friends in the building. A building where the
people think of themselves as family and have their own interrelationship
issues. Things get complicated and don’t always work out as planned, but like
life itself, this is how it plays out.
The result is an entertaining mystery full of a cast of characters and constant twists and turns. While it is always preferable to have read the first book of a series first, one could easily read Beach Blonde Betrayal: A Florida Beach Mystery first as spoilers for the previous book are minimal. It is also a solidly good cozy style mystery and a lot of fun.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4oveckC
As previously noted, my digital ARC came
from the publisher, Severn House, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive
review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, July 01, 2026
Short Story Wednesday Review: Hallmarks of the Job: A Stanley Melvin PI Story by Frank Zafiro
Last month I reviewed the novella, Shades
of the Job: A Stanley Melvin PI Story by Frank Zafiro. That novella was
my first experience with the very detail ordered and precise in his language Stanley
Melvin. I liked the read a lot as I made clear in my review. That also led the
publisher to send me the first read, Hallmarks of the Job: A Stanley
Melvin PI Story.
As the tale begins, Alan Thorpe is an
angry man as he sits across from Stanley Melvin in his office above Hamilton’s
Barber Shop. He is adamant that his wife is cheating. He wants Melvin to prove
it and to do so with pictorial proof. Because 38% of Stanley Melvin’s caseload
are these types of situations, he knows that he is fully equipped to take the
case.
But, is she really cheating?
Thorpe certainly thinks so, but all he
has is speculation. He wants proof and he is willing to sign a contract and pay
for services rendered to get that pictorial proof.
A signed contract and payment mean that Stanley
Melvin is on the case. A man of skills, and on the spectrum, he is highly
detail orientated and organized. Lists matter a lot as he moves through both
his personal and private life. But, making a list and being able to cross it
off does not solve everything.
Hallmarks of the Job: A Stanley
Melvin PI Story
by Frank Zafiro is a solidly good cozy style mystery read. This series is far
different than the gritty police procedurals that make up his River City series. These novellas,
quirky and fun, are well worth your time.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aCoNEr
My digital reading copy came from the
publisher, Code 4 Press, with no expectation
of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Monday, June 22, 2026
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Fear the Reaper: A McKenzie Novel by David Housewright
Fear the
Reaper by David Housewright (Minotaur, June 2026) is the newest of the
Rushmore McKenzie series. McKenzie is an unofficial private investigator who
does favors for friends and friends of his friends. His circle of friends is
ever-widening and they bring him some original problems which he cannot resist
trying to solve, often with the assistance of his childhood best friend, Bobby
Dunston who is a career cop.
Mac and his
wife Nina are visiting Bobby’s parents in their vacation home in upstate
Wisconsin. Mac and Bobby Dunston started as neighbors in St. Paul and became
inseparable from an early age. When Mac was 12 his mother died and Patty
Dunston stepped into the role, making the two men even closer. Patty is a huge
fan of a small winery near their Wisconsin home and the group of five visit one
Friday afternoon, where the popular place is nearly full. Bobby is the first to
see the man who enters the crowded room carrying an AR-15, and he and Mac
tackle him before he can fire a shot.
Unfortunately
Wisconsin is an open-carry state. Since he was stopped before he actually
injured someone, he was not breaking a law and the police could not press
charges. The sheriff was uneasy though. The security camera footage showed the
prospective gunman looking around the room, as if searching for a specific
target. He of course is not admitting to anything, so she asks Mac to find out
who the intended victim was to try to stop another attempt that might succeed. This
unenviable assignment required Mac to look into the lives of each person at the
winery that afternoon and find out if someone might benefit from their death. He
had no authority to interview anyone or to examine records but that never stops
Mac. Of course his questions upset a few people, revealing as they did some
details better left private.
Housewright
excels at creating believable characters and here he sketches a handful of them
in sharp outline with a quick snapshot of their lives. While relationship
trouble seemed inevitable for a number of the people present that Friday from
some of the things Mac learned, murder was a bit of a stretch for most of them.
Mac’s deep
attachment to his friends and family is a nice change from the alienated
anti-hero so common now. He’s genuinely a nice person, and the people he meets
in the course of his investigations recognize it. The solutions start with
Mac’s knowledge of human nature and, if not clearly clued, they align with the
facts as presented.
After 23
books, a mediocre read might be expected but I didn’t find it here. Another innovative
plot with familiar characters, devious misdirection, and more than competent
writing. I have no idea why readers do not rave about these books. They are one
of the best long-running series still in print. Anyone looking for a new series
to binge should look at this one. Recommended!
- Publisher: Minotaur Books
- Publication date: June 23, 2026
- Language: English
- Print length: 320 pages
- ISBN-10: 125036048X
- ISBN-13: 978-1250360489
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4xzOrnn
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal
It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, June 21, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: INSPECTOR ELLIS: Season 2
Mystery Fanfare: INSPECTOR ELLIS: Season 2: Inspector Ellis, Season 2, premieres on Acorn TV , Monday, July 6, 2026. Starring Sharon D Clarke as Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Ell...
Friday, June 19, 2026
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Review: Shades of the Job: A Stanley Melvin P.I. Story by Frank Zafiro
Shades of the Job: A Stanley
Melvin P.I. Story
by Frank Zafiro is the second book in the series that started with Hallmarks of the Job: A Stanley Melvin P.I.
Story. I have yet to read that first book, so Shades of the
Job was my intro into the world of private investigator Stanley Martin.
This character reminds me a lot of the DS George Cross character and that is a
very good thing.
Stanley Melvin lives in an upstairs apartment in a building that was converted from a house to apartments. He
is climbing the stairs late one day with a grocery bag in hand when Violet
Szade and her very young daughter, Lettie, come out of their ground floor apartment
and get his attention.
The long and the short of it as Violet
makes clear, is that she would like to hire him. Two weeks ago, her apartment
was broken into and searched. Nothing was taken, but clearly, somebody went
through looking at everything. She contacted the police and they came out,
dusted for prints, filed a report, but have no clues as to who did it or why.
Then, yesterday, her ex-boyfriend, Geoff
Grey, contacted her by text to say he wanted to meet Lettie and that he had
changed. The same guy who, as soon as he realized he was going to be a dad,
left her before the baby was born, now wants back into their lives. He has not
done a thing to help as he had completely vanished. Now, he wants to see them.
If he really has changed, that is one
thing. If he has not, that is a far different thing. And she is bothered a lot
by the timing of events. She thinks the coincidence of the break in and his
sudden contact is way too strange and suspicious. They agree that Stanley will investigate
to ascertain what he has been up to while he has been gone from their lives,
other background information, and to make sure that he is safe to be around
Lettie.
A very detail orientated man who has
strong routines and practices to control his anxiety, he begins an investigation
that soon turns violent. In the course of his investigation, readers learn a
lot about Grey, Melvin, and the other people who populate the building and the
neighborhood.
A fast-moving read published by Code 4 Press, Shades of the Job: A
Stanley Melvin P.I. Story, is a highly entertaining novella. Rich in
character detail and atmosphere with flashes of humor, this is a solidly good
read, and one well worth your time.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4ovGJqg
My digital ARC came direct from the
author with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Tuesday, June 09, 2026
Tuesday, June 02, 2026
Publication Day Review: The Bookseller: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan
As the father of DS George Cross faces a
very hard medical diagnosis, he works the case of a murder inside Squire’s Rare
Books. Located in Bristol and owned by the Squire family, the bookstore has
been a fixture in Berkeley Square. The squires have been involved in the business
of rare books for decades, but world of bookselling has massively changed from
when Torquil Squire was a mere lad running books when he was a lad. The staff
that runs the place these days is having a hard time working together and
adjusting the business and there is friction.
Did that friction play a role or cause
the death of Edward Squire, son of Torquil, or not? A question that DS George
Cross and the rest of the team will have to answer in coming days along with a
host of other questions. A team that has a lot going on, professionally and
personally, as they deal with various matters including the repercussions of
recent events depicted in The Teacher.
Quite a lot is happening in The Bookseller:
A DS George Cross Mystery. This review deliberately skims the surface
of this intense police procedural. In my opinion, to reveal more would cause spoilers
and I won’t do that. Suffice it to say that this is a mighty good read in a
series that just keeps getting better and better.
As I have tried to make clear before,
each book in this series is well worth your time. The Bookseller: A DS George Cross
Mystery is as well.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4ctnvNP
I received a digital ARC from the
publisher, Atlantic Crime, imprint of Grove Atlantic, through NetGalley, with
no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Saturday, May 09, 2026
KRL Update
Up on KRL this week a review and giveaway of "Cat on a Hot Tin Woof" by Spencer Quinn. This was the last review that Sandra Murphy wrote for us shortly before her sudden passing, which is appropriate as this was one of her favorite series https://kingsriverlife.com/05/09/cat-on-a-hot-tin-woof-by-spencer-quinn/
And the latest Mystery Coming Attractions from Victoria Fair https://kingsriverlife.com/05/09/mystery-current-coming-attractions-may-2026/
And a review and giveaway of "A Deadly Episode" by Anthony Horowitz https://kingsriverlife.com/05/09/a-deadly-episode-by-anthony-horowitz/
Up on KRL last night another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Julian M Coleman about her new book "Stolen Prophet" https://kingsriverlife.com/05/06/stolen-prophet/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Two Purloined Pillows" by Allie Pleiter https://www.krlnews.com/2026/05/two-purloined-pillows-by-allie-pleiter.html
And a review and giveaway of "Robbie McNeil's Hit List" by Brianna Heath, along with an interesting interview with Brianna https://www.krlnews.com/2026/05/robbie-mcneils-hit-list-by-brianna.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "The Case of the Petrified Potter" by Cathy Ace https://www.krlnews.com/2026/05/the-case-of-petrified-potter-by-cathy.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Tunnel Vision" by Eloise Corvo https://www.krlnews.com/2026/05/tunnel-vision-by-eloise-corvo.html
Happy reading,
Lorie
Tuesday, May 05, 2026
Publication Day Review: Reverse: A Posadas County Mystery by Steven F. Havill
Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman is in
her patrol unit and driving on a quiet evening in Posadas County, New Mexico,
when she hears the relaxed voice of Sergeant Thomas Pasquale calling in a license
platy check to the new dispatcher on duty. It is November as Reverse: A
Posadas County Mystery by Steven F. Havill begins, and the weather has
been unseasonably warm. The license plate soon comes back to a totally
different car than the one in the parking lot of NightZone. The currently unoccupied car has been hidden
on the far end of a parking lot and sandwiched between an older station wagon
and a large pickup truck. After a short cellphone discussion with Sergeant
Pasquale, she decides to run code and respond as his backup.
She never makes it.
As her brilliantly lit departmental Charger
rockets down the highway, she collides with a large elk and its baby. The crash
is devastating to her, the car, and the elk. Minutes later, Sheriff Jackie
Taber, who was a few miles behind her on the same road as she too was already
headed to NightZone, is on scene and starts a complicated rescue response.
In the aftermath, Estelle is more determined
to retire at the end of the year, as scheduled. She soon learns that she is not
the only one about to leave the department. Change is coming, the torch is
being passed, and those left in the small department, as well as everyone else,
are going to have to deal with a seismic shift in personnel.
A small department that is also dealing
with an ongoing staff shortage, political and budget issues, and crime problems.
That also includes the vexing problem of what happened to a 1967 Corvette that
was being raffled off to pay for new and much needed church roofs. The car was
swiped from the service area of the local dealership. That never should have
happened. Where is the car? Who took it? Just two of the many questions that
need to be answered as the raffle draws closer by the hour.
Not to mention determining what happened
to the local teen found near death by the old and very flooded local quarry? It
has been abandoned for years. Nobody should have been out there. From the state
of the kid, he clearly was there, at some point.
What follows is another complicated read
featuring characters that are old friends at this point. Characters that are
never static, but just like real people in our lives, evolve and change over
time. As a longtime reader and a big-time fan of the series, it is fun to again
visit with characters that feel like friends and family. To visit again an area
of New Mexico that is clearly loved by Mr. Havill. None of us are getting any
younger and getting to once again go back to Posadas County is a real treat and
much appreciated.
The latest installment of a wonderful
series, Reverse: A Posadas County Mystery Series, is strongly
recommended. As is the series.
My digital ARC came from the publisher,
Severn House, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Sunday, May 03, 2026
Review: The Teacher: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan
With DS Josie Ottey off as she moves her
family to a new house, DS George Cross is stuck partnering with his boss, DCI Ben
Carson, as The Teacher: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan
begins. Those of us who have read the series to this point understand very well
that this is not an optimal situation for DS George Cross.
In the coming days and weeks, it will
get way worse for him as well as a couple of other members of the investigate team.
Carson and Cross have been called out to
the scene of where an elderly man apparently went down a narrow staircase the
hard way. The smear of blood, a long trail, shows the path Alistair Moreton’s head
took in its final seconds. The neck is obviously broken. While DCI Carson sees
a slip and fall, PC Trevor Bain saw the defensive puncture wounds to the hands
of the deceased man and called for assistance.
As DS Cross notes, there are also bites
to the victim’s legs as well as some sort of puncture wound to his chest. It is
clearly not a simple slip and fall. In Cross’ opinion, the police constable was
one hundred percent correct in alerting the Major Crime Unit of the Avon and
Somerset Police.
What follows is a complicated case and a
hunt for the killer or killers. Along the way, not only do we see Cross deal
with a series of challenges, professionally and personally, we also follow as
various members of the team deal with their own professional and personal challenges.
In every case, those challenges would be spoilers if I revealed them here, so I
won’t.
Instead, I will simply point out that The
Teacher: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan is a very good
police procedural. Part of the excellent series that began with The
Dentist. This read, and the others, should be read in order as each
one extensively builds on the previous books of the series.
Strongly recommended.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4rBurxe
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
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Publication Day Review: The Lost Angels: A Thriller by Michele DomÃnguez Greene
The Lost Angels: A Thriller by Michele
DomÃnguez Greene is a direct sequel to the Hollywood Hitmen novel
of last year. Like that book, this read is not really a thriller though it is a
bit grittier. This read is more like an actual police procedural as well.
The plight of young children and teens
on the streets is a nationwide problem. It is also the main storyline of The
Lost Angels: A Thriller. Evie Peacock is one of those teens on the
streets of Los Angeles doing almost anything to survive. As the book opens on a
rainy night, she is seventeen, and very worried about her friend, Layla Waters.
The same friend, Layla Waters, who had called her a couple of days earlier, and
said the guy she had been living with was bad news after all. She had promised come
back to Evie and the others in their small group who all look out for each other.
She also wanted to show Evie something so they could figure out what to do and
who to tell about it.
That was not to be.
Soon, Officer Cassidy Clarke, just back
at work in the LAPD after a stress leave due to recent events, will be part of
the hunt for the missing Layla. So, too will her father, Bill Clarke, who is on
a better mental footing these days, thanks to the medication he is now on and
other things. It would be helpful if the killer languishing in prison would
stop calling for him.
Then there is Melinda Drake, director of
the Kidz Club house, who is just about at her wits end. She runs a resource center
and overnight shelter for homeless teens and runaways. Her place is a sanctuary
for those living on the streets. It is a
well-known refuge and sorely needed.
She flags down Cassidy and Officer Sean Riley
while they are on patrol. She wants to follow up on numerous phone calls she has
made regarding several missing kids. She knows of at least five kids who used
to be frequent guests and now have seemingly disappeared. She also knows of a
very low-level pimp, Aiden Howe, who used to be around all the time, and now is
not.
She’s called in repeatedly to report
these situations. She’s talked to Captain Dykstra of the Hollywood Station, who
promised somebody would come by and take a report. Nobody ever did, no matter
how many times she called. So, she flagged down Cassidy and Riley to ask,
again, that somebody listen and do something.
Using her data terminal in their patrol
car, Cassidy files a report for each of the missing kids so that the
investigative ball gets rolling. Cassidy isn’t about to just file the reports
and move on either. Neither will her former detective father, now retired and
working as a private investigator, as he never lets anything go. Both of them
and others will work the cases of the missing kids while also working other
cases and dealing with past and present events in various storylines.
While an incredibly depressing topic
when one thinks about the thousands and thousands of kids living on the streets
of this country, the topic is handled well in The Lost Angels: A Thriller
by Michele DomÃnguez Greene. Plenty of action and mystery are present in this
read that also concludes several over arching storylines from the first book.
The resulting read is far more of a police procedural than the cozy style first
book. That fact made it, for this reader, a far more entertaining and enjoyable
read.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/42vms9L
My digital ARC came from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
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