Lesa's Book Critiques: Dover, Ohio and Author Linda Castillo
Showing posts with label short story collection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short story collection. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2026
Saturday, July 11, 2026
Saturday, July 04, 2026
Friday, July 03, 2026
Saturday, June 13, 2026
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Seasons of Glass & Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Seasons of Glass & Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar: Reviewed by Kristin These stories often read like fairy tales. In the titular story, “Seasons of Glass and Iron”, Tabitha is wearing iro...
Sunday, June 07, 2026
Guest Post: The Inspiration Behind "Murder on Vacation" Wasn't Murder After All by Gerald Elias
Please welcome author Gerald Elias
to the blog today. As I recently noted in a “Thursday Treats” post, Mr. Elias’
latest book is his short story collection. Published by White City Press, Murder on Vacation:
Stories from the Case Files of Maury Gross, NYPD (Ret.), is available at
the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors in digital and
print formats.
Where does an author get ideas for
a story? From personal experience? Deep contemplation? From a passing comment
or casual glimpse? From other authors? Totally from out of the blue?
How about by accident?
Eight years ago, my wife and I
stayed at a modest motel on the beach in the cozy coastal town of Cambria,
California, in order to attend our niece’s ritzy wedding in wine country.
During our stay, which lasted only a long weekend, three curious things popped
out to me. (Maybe they were curious only to me because murder mysteries run in
my blood.)
The first was an elderly couple
strolling along the beach’s boardwalk. What was curious about that? Not that
they were elderly—Who isn’t these days?—but that the gentleman in question was
dressed in what his wife—who I imagined determined his attire–– probably
considered appropriate for a California vacation: a 1950s style pair of Bermuda
shorts and a gaudy Hawaiian shirt. And ankle-length, black socks—Don’t forget
those—to round out the eye-catching ensemble.
The second curiosity was a
state-of-the-art Porsche sportscar in the motel’s parking lot, which might have
cost more than the motel itself.
The third and final item was the
colony of dozens of elephant seals lolling on the beach about 10 miles north of
us. In your mind’s eye, do not mistake an elephant seal for a sea lion. They’re
twice as big, up to 4,000 nasty pounds, with a protruding proboscis which gives
them their name. They only spend about a month per year out of the water, and
you can imagine what they do while on shore leave, like most seafarers: rest,
fight, and screw. And when they fight, it’s not for play. It’s for keeps: to
become king of the hill or, more appropriately, king of the beach. Why? To win
the dear damsel of choice, of course. Why else?
As my wife and I observed elephant
seal festivities safely ensconced on a bluff with a chain link fence high above
the beach, I got an idea to package curiosities one and two together with
number three and write a short mystery. What emerged after a few days of
resharpened pencils and crumpled paper was a draft of a story I initially
called “Elephant Seals,” starring retired NYPD Police Chief Maury Gross and his
wife Bobbi (the couple on the boardwalk).
I wrote this story only to amuse my
wife and myself, with no further thoughts about where it might end up. But I
really liked my two protagonists, and so did my wife, so on our next vacation I
gathered more curiosities for a story. And the next. And the next…
Fifteen Maury Gross stories later,
I had spanned the wonders of our great nation from sea to shining sea and
decided they were worthy candidates for a collection. There is a great saga to
be told how I ultimately found the perfect publisher in White City Press, but
that’s another story in its entirety.
Suffice it to say that Maury Gross
is the nicest, most unassuming and thoughtful cop you’d ever want to meet, and
Bobbi is not only his longtime soulmate but also his astute partner in crime
solving. And they’re both sharp as a tack.
The title of the first story,
“Elephant Seals,” was changed to “Murder on Vacation” and, appropriately, is
the name of the whole collection. If you’re looking for entertaining summer
reading, here’s my advice: get an ice-cold beverage, a comfortable chair or
lounge, a shady spot, and Murder on Vacation. As Maury would say, “What’s not
to like?”
Amazon Associates Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4alkqNN
Gerald Elias ©2026
Silver Falchion finalist Gerald
Elias can’t help writing about everything that interests him, from his Daniel
Jacobus mystery series (and audiobooks) set in the dark corners of the
classical music world, to his Western mystery, Roundtree Days. His short story
collections, It’s a Crime! and Murder on Vacation (May, 2026, White City Press)
cover everything from spies to sea elephants.
A former Boston Symphony musician,
Elias is an internationally recognized violinist, conductor, and composer. He
spends his free time enjoying the outdoors, travel, coffee, good food, and most
of all, being a devoted grandpa. https://www.mysteriesandmusic.com/
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "A Touch of Petulance" by Ray Bradbury
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "A Touch of Petulance" by ...: The story I am featuring comes from the collection Killer Come Back to Me: The Crime Stories of Ray Bradbury . It was published by Hard Ca...
Tuesday, May 05, 2026
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Short Story Wednesday Review: Game Face by Mark Troy
From
the archive…
Texas
author Mark Troy brings together in this collection titled GAME FACE
eight short stories featuring his signature character Val Lyon. A tough talking
wise cracking private investigator that brooks no interference when there is a
case to be solved. This former military brat calls Hawaii home. Along with plenty of the sights, sounds, and
history of the islands, readers get strong well written stories featuring
complex cases and the always present search for justice.
After
a forward that explains some of the history behind the character, the book
opens with “Teed Off.” Glenn Floeck owns a line of golf shops under the name
“Teed Off.” He plans to expand his company to the islands. That means he and
his bodyguard, Frodo Baggins, need a car and a driver. Val Lyon can provide
both along with plenty of attitude and investigative skills. By working
undercover and getting close to him she can get the answers she needs. The
answers will come one way or another in this very good story.
Val
Lyon is an athlete so there is a sports angle to every story in some way. In
“Home Wreckers” star Julie Storm is dead and Coach Sherri Costello, head coach
of the Tropical Storm, wants her help.
The players of the women’s Professional Basketball League are not
supposed to be dead. But, Julie Storm is very dead and the team, as well as Val
Lyon, is in huge trouble.
Next
up is “Kill Leader” when Val Lyon has to protect Paula Evangelista from a
killer. Paula is something else when she is playing beach volleyball and
seemingly scoring at will. She scores off the beach too with a clothing line, a
generous sponsor, and work as a model. For somebody, all that is too much and
he or she wants her dead.
Val
Lyon is at Memorial Arena on the campus of U. C. Santa Christa and back on the
court she once played far too many games to count in “The Big Dance With
Death.” Head coach of the female
basketball team, Carol Onofrido, needs her help and Val is more than ready to
help. Even if it means the legendary Val
Lyon has to go undercover as an assistant coach to stop what appears at first
to be stalking while the team works to stay in the tournament.
“Wahine
O Ka Hoe” opens with a tragedy in the sea surrounding the island of Oahu.
Something went wrong aboard the canoe and now fellow teammate Nani is dead. The
medical examiner thinks it was an accident caused by a rogue wave. Was it? Did someone take advantage of the
chaos at sea to kill one of the “Women of The Paddle” or was it an accident?
Readers
go from the sea to the air in “Drop Dead Zone.” A constant need in Val Lyon’s
life is her need for adrenaline. Because of that, she is onboard a Cessna
airplane preparing to make a parachute jump as this story opens. All the hard
work of learning how to skydive is about to pay off as she and three others
leave the safety of the airplane and begin their fall to earth. Not everyone
lands via parachute. Was it an accident or was it murder?
Somebody
is swiping the sperm from award winning bulls and owner Doyle Gillispie wants
it stopped in “Horns.” He doesn’t know who is the stealing his championship
bull sperm, but he knows it is happening and makes it very clear he wants Val
Lyon to stop it. The last thing Val wants is this case or this client. But, you do what you have to do when you need
to make the car payment. The championship bulls Gillispie owns and his possible
suspect will be at the upcoming rodeo in Maui. So too will be private investigator
Val Lyon.
The
bites on the surf board Alana Nichols was using indicate a serious shark attack
in “Ripper.” There is blood on the remnants of the surf board, most likely
blood from Alana Nichols, but there is no body. Terry, Alana’s mother, is
convinced she is alive and not a victim of a shark attack. She has questions, such as what happened to
Alana’s computer, and wants Val’s help in finding her daughter.
After
eight very good stories, the book closes with Chapter One of the novel Pilikia
Is My Business. Pilikia means “trouble” in Hawaiian and public defender
Brian Magruder has quite the job for her. I have reviewed the novel before and
it is a good one without question.
Val
Lyon is an interesting character and one can see how she changes through the
years in these previously published stories. Now available as a collection of
the single short stories, GAME FACE, not only brings them
together, it also includes the cover art work from each single. A nice touch
that works well in the collection. Filled with plenty of action, interesting
cases, and difficult situations this book is a solidly good read. The book also
serves to what the reader appetite for the novel Pilikia Is My Business.
One
hopes there will be many more Val Lyon stories as well as a novel or two in the
future.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4tW7SUA
Material supplied by the author in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin
R. Tipple © 2012, 2017, 2022, 2026
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Thursday Treats: 4/16/2026
The latest reading opportunities…
SMFS list member Joan Leotta announced that her three part flash fiction tale, “Observed, Overheard in the Hallway”, had been published online at Spillwords. You can read it for free here.
SMFS list member Alan Orloff announced that
his novel, The Family Biz, had been published by Level Best
Books. You can get it in eBook or paperback formats at Amazon.
Last month, fellow SMFS Member M. E. Proctor had a guest post here about how the soon to be released new book, Kansas City Breakdown, cowritten with Russell Thayer, came to be. Published by Cowboy Jamboree Press, their new book is a sequel to Bop City Swing of last year. The book is now out. You can pick it up at Amazon and elsewhere.
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Also now out is The Firefall: A Murder in Yosemite by Mark Thielman. Published by Severn River Publishing, this is the third read in The Johnson and Nance Mystery series. You can pick it up in a variety of formats at Amazon. You could also pick up the entire series, to date, as book four, scheduled to be out in January, is available too for preorder. By the way, Mr. Thielman is the current President of the Sisters in Crime North Dallas Chapter, of which I used to be a member, he is also currently nominated for a Derringer Award in the “Best Long Story” category for his short story, Masterpiece, which appeared in Black Cat Mystery Magazine #16.
He is also one heck of a nice guy and
tolerated my weird presence in public at two different book events we were both
panelists at months ago. Experiencing the Tipple, on back-to-back days, has
broken lessor beings.
Fellow SMFS list member Steve Liskow
reached out to tell me that his short story, One on One, appears in Teach.
Write.: A Literary Journal for Writing Teachers Spring/Summer 2026,
Edited by Katie Winkler. Mr. Liskow add, ed: “My story concerns a first-year
teacher who is caught between his rookie idealism and the reality of a student
living in an abusive home.” You can pick up a paperback copy on LuLu.
Back when I worked for a local school
district here in the Dallas area, I used to hear some real horror stories
regarding home life situations. What some kids go through is, literally, hell
on earth.
My good friend Barry Ergang has the
poem, Centerfold, in the latest edition of the online zine, Yellow Mama. SMFS
list members, Elizabeth Dearborn (Lived My Life Too Fast), Joan Leotta (Luck of
the Irish), and Bern Sy Moss (Bragging Rights) all have short stories in Yellow
Mama 115. You can read it for free here.
The latest issue of Black Cat
Weekly also came out. You can pick up Black Cat Weekly #241 here. You could also pick up a
monthly or annual subscription too.
This also means that Ellery Queen
Mystery Magazine: May/June 2026 is now out. SMFS list members DK Snyder
(Home), S.B. Watson (Closing the Case) have short stories in the issue. SMFS
list member Josh Pachter provided the translation of Herbert De Paepe’s short
story, The Defixio Murders (Passport to Crime). You can pick it up at the website or at
bookstores.
By the way, Art Taylor’s “The First Two
Pages” is currently running a feature highlighting several folks that are
featured in the Hot Shots anthology. Things started off with
“The
Touch of Death” by BV Lawson, followed by “Famous
Last Words” by Doug Allyn, with more stories highlighted in the weeks
ahead.
Also now out, if you like fantasy and
science fiction are the new issues of Analog and Asimov’s.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Thursday, April 09, 2026
Thursday Treats: 4/9/2026
The latest reading opportunities…
SMFS list member Anna Scotti announced that
her short story, The Intruder, was published online at the Chautauqua
Journal. You can read the story for free here.
SMFS list member Sandra J. Cady announced that
her novel, A Game of Luck: A Sam Roma Detective Mystery, will be
released on 4/30/2026. Published by Black Rose Writing, the read is
available for preorder in eBook or paperback formats at Amazon.
Author Beau Johnson announced on Threads that his books, out of print due to the demise last year of the previous publisher, are coming back into print. Shotgun Honey will first release, A Better Kind of Hate: Stories, tomorrow in both eBook and print format. More coming from the Bishop Rider series will be released later. You can get your copy of this first book at the publisher.
Author Eric Beetner announced on Facebook that his latest book, A Wound That Will Not Heal, is now out from Level Best Books. This final book in the Carter McCoy series will be out in print and audio formats later. You can pick up the eBook, as well as the two preceding novels of the trilogy, at Amazon.
SMFS members Jon Matthew Farber (The
Italian Cufflink Mystery) and Tom Milani (Riley Walker) have short stories in the
latest issue of Black Cat Weekly. You can pick up Black Cat Weekly #240
here.
A reminder that the new book, Kansas City
Breakdown, is about to be released by Cowboy Jamboree Press. The
book by M. E. Proctor and Russell Thayer is a sequel to their Bop City Swing of
last year. It is up at Amazon for preorder in advance of the publication day of
next Tuesday. M. E. Proctor’s guest
post on this blog explains the origin story for the new read. You can also read a
chapter from the book at The Literary Garage,
for free, as well as a lot of other cool stuff.
Finally, as noted last week, the short
story collection, Hot Shots:
Celebrating Thirty Years of the Short Mystery Fiction Society is now out. Editor
Josh Pachter has culled through all of the Derringer winning stories over the
decades to select one for each year to highlight. Published by Level Best Books
- Level Short, the book is currently available to in eBook and paperback format
at Amazon.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Thursday, April 02, 2026
Thursday Treats: 4/2/2026
The latest reading opportunities…
SMFS list member Abe Margel announced
that his short story, Maddy on the Beach, was published online at Chewers by Masticadores.
You can read the story for free here.
SMFS list member Jeff Esterholm announced that his latest crime fiction short story, No Quarter, was published online at Literary Garage. You can read it for free here.
SMFS list member Margaret S. Hamilton’s
short story, A Pinch of Death, was published online at Kings River Life
Magazine. This Easter mystery tale can be read for free here.
Punk Noir has published, Find What You
Love and Let It Kill You #4 — a PUNK NOIR Magazine series. This series of short
stories are all free to read online at their website as are the
preceding three installments. The market call for the planned May series was
also announced here.
Author BJ Bourg has another
read out in his long running Clint Wolf Mystery Series. Published
by Death Shadow Press, LLC, But Not For
Cruelty: A Clint Wolf Novel came out last month. This 36th
book in the series is available in eBook format at Amazon.
Also now out is The Uganda
Protocol by Jeffrey James Higgins. Published by Severn River
Publishing
in a variety of formats, this is the fourth book in the Nathan Burke Thrillers series. Available at Amazon.
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SMFS members Michael Bracken (Death of
an April Fool) and Josh Pacheter (Turkish Muscle) have short stories in the
latest issue of Black Cat Weekly. You can pick up Black Cat Weekly
#239 here.
Finally, April 7th sees the release of the short story collection, Hot Shots: Celebrating Thirty Years of the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Editor Josh Pachter has culled through all of the Derringer winning stories over the decades to select one for each year to highlight. Published by Level Best Books - Level Short, the book is currently available to preorder in eBook format at Amazon. Editor Pachter has promised the membership that there the paperback version will be available, but the date is unknown at the time I post this column.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, April 01, 2026
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Thursday Treats: 3/26/2026
The latest reading opportunities…
SMFS President Joseph S. Walker announced that
his short story collection, Crime Scenes, was released by Level Best Books. Currently available in eBook
format with print scheduled later this year, the collection features twenty
stories. A number of them won or were finalists for various awards. Pick it up
at Amazon and elsewhere.
SMFS list member Andrew Welsh-Huggins’ new book, The Delivery: A Mercury Carter Thriller, came out earlier this week. Aubrey reviewed it here, as she did the first book. Lesa Holstine also reviewed this new book earlier in the week and previously reviewed the first one.
Punk Noir has published, Find What You
Love and Let It Kill You #3 — a PUNK NOIR Magazine series. This series of short
stories are all free to read online at their website. SMFS list
member Sandra J. Cady (For the Love of Writing) and S. B. Watson’s (My Human),
short stories appear as do others.
SMFS member Tom Larsen announced that
his short story, "El Fantasma (The Ghost), is in the latest issue of Black
Cat Weekly. You can pick up Black Cat Weekly #238 here.
Finally, next week sees the release of From the Dust: A Novel by David
Swinson. I was able to read an ARC of this from Mulholland Books through
NetGalley months ago and very much enjoyed it. The police procedural comes out
next Tuesday as does my review of it here on the blog. This is a really good
one, folks, and well worth your time.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
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