Sunday, August 24, 2025
KRL Update 8/24/2025
Up on KRL this week a review and giveaway of "Something Whiskered" by Miranda James https://kingsriverlife.com/08/23/something-whiskered-by-miranda-james/
Beneath the Stains of Time: It's About Impossible Crime (2025) by James Scott Byrnside
Sweet Freedom: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: the links to the reviews and more: 22 August 2025
Paula Messina Reviews: A Gentle Murderer by Dorothy Salisbury Davis
Please welcome back Paula Messina to the blog today…
A Gentle Murderer
By Paula Messina
The
title of Dorothy Salisbury Davis’
novel, A Gentle
Murderer, is not an oxymoron. It is ironic. The story begins in the
confessional at nine o’clock
on a Saturday night. Father Duffy waits “for perhaps one tardy penitent”
seeking absolution. The priest is startled by a voice, “having heard no sound
near him, nor noticed any light as the curtain parted.” In the dark
confessional, Father Duffy sees the outline of a face, and he is reminded of
St. Francis.
The
man with the saintly visage says he wanted to be a priest. He proceeds to
confess to murder. His weapon of choice is a hammer, the only present his
mother ever gave him. He mentions one other gift, a prayer book given to him by
Father McGohey.
Father
Duffy can only provide “conditional
absolution,” and attempts to persuade the confessor to turn himself in to the
police.
The
gentle murderer disappears into the night.
Bound
by the seal of confession, Father Duffy cannot share the murder’s confession with anyone, not his
bishop, not another priest, not the police. The cleric is left “in darkness.
And he had never known a darkness more profound.”
Murderer
is not a whodunit. Davis exposes the killer, Tim Brandon, in the third chapter.
Brandon is small, insignificant, a would-be poet who cannot keep a job. A
boarder in Mrs. Galli’s
home, he hasn’t paid the rent. Mrs. Galli’s daughter, Katie, is smitten with
the deadbeat. And so is the lonely, passionate widow, Mrs. Galli.
Norah
Flaherty, a maid, cleans her way to the bedroom of the sleeping Miss Gerbhardt,
a woman of questionable repute. Mrs. Flaherty’s “knees betrayed her in the instant she realizes that she
had seen all there was left of Miss Gebhardt’s face….It was not until she
reached the foyer that she found her legs and her voice. Then she ran screaming
into the hall.”
Detective
Sergeant Ben Goldsmith arrives at the murder scene and becomes relentless in
his pursuit of the murderer. So too is Father Duffy. After he reads the
newspaper report that Miss Gerbhardt was beaten to death with a hammer, he
concludes his only clue to the murderer’s
identity is the priest who gifted the gentle murderer with a prayer book. He
sets off to track down Father McGohey. Thus begins parallel investigations,
Sergeant Goldsmith’s pursuit of the killer and Father Duffy’s search for the
man he could not grant absolution.
Father
Duffy traces Brandon’s
earlier life from when he was a child, his time in a seminary, and eventual
arrival in New York. He learns Brandon’s father was an abusive alcoholic. The
mother smothered her son, but her sins are never spelled out. It also becomes
clear that Miss Gerbhardt is not Brandon’s first murder victim. It is likely he
will kill again.
Goldsmith
understands Father Duffy is somehow involved when the detective learns the
priest had questioned Mrs. Flaherty. The visit with Mrs. Flaherty is
suspicious. Goldsmith traces Father Duffy’s
steps and learn everything the priest uncovers.
Over
and over in the novel, Brandon is described as gentle. A number of women in his
life protected him, gave him a roof over his head, and acted as a surrogate
mother. That was Miss Gebhardt’s
failing. She befriended Brandon, only to be rewarded with blows to her head
with the hammer Brandon’s mother gave him.
Brandon
is like so many real killers. He’s
a dreamer. How else would you describe a man who wants to be a poet but barely
works at it? He most likely lacks even a modicum of talent. He’s a nonentity
who can claim no accomplishments. And yet women fall for him. They want to
protect him, salve his wounds, revel in his dreams and empty statements. They
repeatedly fail to see that Brandon is a wolf in sheep’s clothing as he
struggles to suppress the anger surging under that harmless, benign appearance.
Brandon,
a murderous, gentle soul, a misfit, is far from the only sinner in the book.
Mrs. Galli lusts after Tim at the same time she attempts to protect her
daughter Katie from him. Because of her love for Tim, Katie deceives her
mother. Miss Gerbhardt acted like a mother to Tim Brandon, but she was a
sinner, a woman of the night. Father Duffy must bear the burden of his moral
dilemma alone.
Davis
keeps her readers turning the pages because of Father Duffy and Sergeant
Goldsmith. The priest and sergeant are not perfect. Then who is? Unlike Tim
Brandon, they have a purpose and are committed to completing the mission. They
seemingly have different goals. Father Duffy wants to absolve Tim Brandon of
his sins. Sergeant Goldsmith wants to bring Brandon to justice. Ultimately,
they have the same objective even if the emphasis is different. In one case, it’s to save a soul. In the other, it’s
to restore equilibrium to society.
There
is a reading group guide at the end of the book. The first question is “who should get credit for cracking
the case here—Father Duffy or Ben Goldsmith?” I won’t attempt to answer that
question. However, I will suggest that their pursuit is two sides of the same
coin. When a person confesses his sins, he is given a penance. Absolution is
dependent on completing that penance. Justice without punishment is
meaningless, and it leaves the criminal free to violate the laws of man again
and again.
Davis
keeps the tension throughout the novel. Brandon has run out of options, and the
pressure of Mrs. Galli’s
lust and Katie’s love is unbearable. The possibility of failure weights heavily
on the priest and police sergeant in the dash to stop Tim Brandon from killing
again.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/41aKzKW
Paula
Messina ©2025
Paula Messina lives within spitting distance of the Atlantic. She writes historical, contemporary, and humorous fiction.
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Mystery Fanfare: HOSTAGE: New thriller on Netflix
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
Scott's Take: Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor by Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch (Illustrator)
Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor
by Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch (Illustrator), collects the 3 issue Black Label
series which was delayed multiple times enough so that only the first issue is
available on DC Infinite app so I read the collected trade through Hoopla via the
Dallas Public Library System. This book sees Superman attempt to save Lex
Luthor as his latest attempt to create something to kill Superman has
backfired. So, Superman reluctantly agrees to try to save his life.
Written with numerous flashbacks to their time as
teens in Smallville, those are interspersed with the present day attempts to
save Lex’s life. There is a major twist in the middle that changes the book. The
read is part moral quandary and part journey through the DC Universe.
This was a fun, if not very original read, since a
lot of this has been done before. I think this read would be better for newer
readers of Superman than long term fans. It is nice when writers remember to
show the science side of Superman, but the opening scene I have seen done at
least two other times. Batman not playing any role in this was a surprise. Lois
also has a minimal presence.
The art by Bryan Hitch was his typically great
splash pages with average regular pages. Some of his faces he has used before. In
numerous cases, he used the same expression on the same character in the last
series I read by him for things here. It has been a few years and he has not
made any improvement as an artist. You would think that with this book taking
several years between issues there would be improvement as an artist, but there
is not any.
The ending was cliched, but did set up an intriguing
sequel. However, mostly likely there will be no follow up since one has not
been announced. I don’t think they embraced the aspect of being a black label
book except for some body horror and city devastation later in the book.
Overall, this is a fun Superman story even if one
has read a lot of Superman and seen most of these elements done before.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4nGOmcx
As noted, I read this material through the Hoopla
App by way of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2025
Friday, August 22, 2025
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: CADAVER IN CHIEF
Friday's Forgotten Book: At What Cost: A Detective Penley Mystery by James L’Etoile
A serial killer is active in At What Cost: A Detective Penley Mystery by James L’Etoile. Not just your average run of the mill serial killer either as West Sacramento Police Detective John Penley and his partner, Detective Paula Newberry, have discovered. They already knew a killer was dumping bodies and those bodies were found missing organs. The latest victim, a well-known gang member going back many years, and a guy who did a lot of horrible stuff in his past regardless of what he was doing in the here and now, is missing his head and his limbs. His extremely distinctive tattoo on his chest made what is left of him easy to identify.
Evidence leads them to believe more and
more that the killer is also a collector. They think he is collecting body
parts from the kills. In a way, he is. In another way, he is a harvester. He,
somehow, is aware of the needs of patients on the national transplant list. He
is harvesting organs to fill those needs and others on the black market.
He soon makes it very clear that he
knows Penley’s son is on the transplant list for a kidney and the need is critical.
His disease progression is such that the window for his son to survive the
surgery is closing a little each day. The killer makes it very clear that he
can get a kidney for Penley’s son, but it is going to cost in many different
ways.
What follows is a complex and often
disturbingly intense police procedural. For those of us who have been through
the transplant process, the read can be a bit much at times. While it is all
fiction, one wonders just how strong are the safeguards to prevent what happens
in the read.
At What Cost: A Detective Penley Mystery by James L’Etoile is the first book of this police procedural series. Published in 2016 by Crooked Lane Books, the read is just as powerful and relevant today.
Strongly Recommended.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4mX79Pv
My hardback reading copy came from the
Central, or Downtown Branch, of the Dallas Public Library System. Book two of
the series, Bury the Past,
is on hold for me at the library.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2025
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
SleuthSayers: Wednesday on the Thursday Schedule
Beneath the Stains of Time: This is Murder, Mr. Jones (1943) by Timothy Fuller
Little Big Crimes: Penalty for Early Withdrawal, by Michael Bracken
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "The Summer People" by Kelly Link
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: IF I WERE A RICH MAN
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Market Call--Punk Noir
September publication at Punk Noir. Flash to 200 words. Details at https://punknoirmagazine.wordpress.com/2025/08/19/mother-a-punk-noir-magazine-series/
SleuthSayers: Hot Streak by Michael Bracken
Jerry's House of Everything: OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: THE BEST TV SHOWS THAT NEVER WERE -- UNSOLD PILOTS (2004)
Monday, August 18, 2025
Mystery Fanfare: SISTER BONIFACE MYSTERIES, SEASON 4
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: THE MAN IS BACK!
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: While the Getting Is Good by Matt Riordan
While the Getting Is Good by Matt Riordan (Hyperion
Avenue, 26 August 2025) is an immersive piece of historical crime fiction. Set
in 1932 in the waning days of Prohibition and the depths of the Great
Depression, Eldridge Mackey is scraping by as a herring fisherman in the small
town of Minden on the eastern side of Michigan. He is worried about his
family’s future, short- and long-term, especially his son’s, who Eld believes
deserves more than the hard life of a fisherman. Gangsters from Detroit arranged
with him and several of his neighbors to cross Lake Huron to Ontario and fill
their boats with Canadian whiskey for the hoodlums and their customers. Rumors
that liquor would soon be legal again made the mobsters anxious to squeeze as
much money as possible from the illicit booze before this lucrative revenue
stream dried up.
Canadian whiskey producers
began to stockpile their wares for sale on the open market to be ready when
Prohibition ended, and two gangs squabbled over the shrinking amounts of
contraband available. Eld and his friends got caught in the crossfire. The
family was shattered, leaving them to start new lives in new locations.
Like Whiskey River by
Loren Estleman, one of my all-time favorite crime fiction books, While the
Getting Is Good demonstrates that whiskey-smuggling gangsters may have been
on top of the world for awhile but inevitably their worlds crashed and everyone
around them suffered by association. About half of the book is about Eld’s wife
Maggie and how she managed to survive when they were forced to separate.
Befriended by the sister of the gangster who lost the Canadian whiskey fight,
the two of them team up against the world, making the only choices available to
them for their survival which were not great and they eventually encountered
the consequences. Maggie is worth a book all her own.
I had trouble putting this action-filled
narrative down. The structure of the story with its disrupted chronology, which
I generally dislike, is original and compelling, although not completely
successful. To me the ending is off: either the story stopped too soon or it
went on too long. The point at which it ended feels wrong. Otherwise I found it
a great read if dark and sad. Recommended.
·
Publisher:
Hyperion Avenue
·
Publication
date: August 26, 2025
·
Language:
English
·
Print
length: 336 pages
·
ISBN-10:
1368101453
·
ISBN-13:
978-1368101455
Amazon Associate Purchase
Link: https://amzn.to/45zb8uy
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Beneath the Stains of Time: Dead to Rights: "Captain Leopold and the Ghost-Killer" (1974) by Edward D. Hoch
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Books Read in July 2025
Paula Messina Reviews: The Odor of Violets: A Duncan Maclain Mystery by Baynard Kendrick
Please welcome back Paula Messina to the blog today…
The
Odor of Violets
by Paula Messina
I’d never heard of Baynard Kendrick
(1894–1977) and his main character, Duncan Maclain, until I picked up The Odor of Violets (1941). Otto Penzler tells us in his
introduction to Violets that Maclain
was “[o]ne of the most
beloved characters from the Golden Age of Detective fiction and beyond.”
Penzler describes Kendrick as “one of the giants” from that period. I asked
three well-read mystery writers what they know of Kendrick. Two drew a blank.
One had read a few of Kendrick’s short stories.
How
fleeting fame.
Baynard
Kendrick was a prolific writer of novels, short stories, and articles. One of
the founders of the Mystery Writers of America, he served as its first
president. He was also the first American to enlist in the Canadian Army during
World War I. It was his experience during that war that led him to an encounter
with “a blind British soldier
who had the remarkable ability to tell Kendrick things about himself that
exceeded what a sighted person might have known.” Kendrick never learned the
soldier’s name and never saw him again.
That
encounter is described in Kendrick’s
foreword. I don’t want to spoil anything but describing it. I’ll let you
discover it. I’ll only say that the blind soldier’s accomplishment rivaled—no,
make that exceeded—any of Sherlock Holmes’ flights of genius.
As
you might have guessed, Duncan Maclain is blind. In his foreword to Violets, Kendrick, who had a life-long
interest in blindness and who worked with the blind, tells of a letter he
received from Anne Mansfield Sullivan. Well known for her work with Helen
Keller, Sullivan said, “You’re
a mystery writer…so why not draw on the knowledge that you’ve accumulated and
create a blind detective of your own…who would never perform any feat in his
detection or deduction that couldn’t be duplicated by someone totally
blind—presuming they had the necessary brains and willpower to train themselves
to try.”
Kendrick
accepted the challenge. Duncan Maclain was born.
Getting
back to Violets, Norma Tredwill’s concern about her strained relationship
with her step-daughter intensifies when she learns that Babs is dating Paul
Gerente, who just happens to be Norma’s ex-husband. She sets off to confront
Gerente.
Meanwhile,
Gerente visits Duncan Maclain concerning information that must not fall into
enemy hands.
Norma
arrives at Gerente’s
apartment building in time to see Babs fleeing. Norma finds Gerente’s body.
Babs goes missing. Did she kill Gerente? Or did the neighbor who confesses to
the crime do it? Or was it someone else?
What
begins as a straight-forward mystery turns into a story of international
intrigue. Maclain suspects the enemy is behind the murder, and he’s worried that information that would
devastate the war effort is about to land in the wrong hands. It’s the
recurring scent of violets that leads to the murderer.
There
are many reasons to read a mystery. If you want a great plot, there’s Agatha Christie. Looking for witty
dialogue, try Rex Stout. For humor, Donald E. Westlake never fails. If you’re
more interested in something literary, try P.D. James.
Violets doesn’t have a sensational plot. There is little
humor, and Kendrick is far from an elegant writer. Ultimately, it’s a mystery writer’s detective that sways
readers to pick up a book, and here Baynard Kendrick shines. Think
Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade, Harry Hole, Jack Reacher. Duncan Maclain is a great
detective. It’s
easy to understand why he was and should continue to be a much beloved
character. There’s nothing special about him. He’s not eccentric. It’s obvious
he’s bright and talented, but he’s an ordinary guy who happens to be blind.
Everything Maclain does fits Sullivan’s bill. There are no stunts. They could
be duplicated by someone who is blind. The real intrigue is inhabiting
Maclain’s world, “seeing” it through his “eyes.” It’s those eyes that makes for
a memorable read.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3J6P9n9
Paula Messina ©2025
Paula Messina lives within spitting
distance of the Atlantic. When she isn’t
reading about Archie Goodwin’s
adventures, she’s writing fiction,
make that historical, contemporary, and humorous fiction.
Saturday, August 16, 2025
SleuthSayers: Are You Running Out of Things to Read, or Watch? by John Floyd
KRL Update 8/16/2025
Up on KRL this week reviews and giveaways of 3 more cozy mysteries for your August TBR-"Death and the Librarian" A Blue Ridge Library Mystery by Victoria Gilbert, "For Duck’s Sake" by Donna Andrews, and "That Missing Piece Is Killing Me" by Roz Noonan https://kingsriverlife.com/08/16/three-cozies-for-your-august-tbr/
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Abandoned Southern Virginia: The South Begins Here by Liz Roll
Jerry's House of Everything: WOW COMICS #5 (SPRING 1942)
Scott's Take: Space Ghost Vol. 1: With Only Ghosts to Comfort Us by David Pepose, Jonathan Lau (Artist), Andrew Dalhouse (Colorist), and Taylor Esposito (Letterer)
Space Ghost Vol. 1: With Only
Ghosts to Comfort Us by David Pepose, Jonathan Lau (Artist), Andrew
Dalhouse (Colorist), and Taylor Esposito (Letterer) features the return of
Space Ghost. The Cosmic Hero from that really old tv show. It’s been a long
time since Space Ghost has been featured in anything and it’s been a long time
since I saw the original show, but this feels like to me like the original show
but darker. This is an early years Space Ghost reboot.
In this opening story arc, Space Ghost
adopts two young orphans along with their pet/experiment monkey after their
father is murdered. Space Ghost and the kids go on adventures together facing
off various foes throughout the galaxy. Their mission is to protect the
innocent while uncovering the truth about the conspiracies arrayed against Space
Ghost and the kids.
This book leans heavy into Space Ghost
as Batman in Space but I don’t think of that as a bad thing. Full of action,
character development, humor, and plenty of sci fi fun, this is a really good
read. The art is spectacular.
I have never read anything by either
person, but they did a good job. Apparently the same writer is involved in a Captain
Planet reboot and a separate Speed Racer X series
continuation. The second volume of this Space Ghost series is scheduled
to be released August 5th of this year. The
Council of Doom is listed on Amazon, but not in the Dallas Public
Library System.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/40PmJE4
Published by Dynamite Entertainment, my hardback reading copy came from the Polk-Wisdom Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2025
Friday, August 15, 2025
Gravetapping: EQMM Cover Art: Nov. 1954, Frederic Kirberger
Mystery Fanfare: Ned Kelly Awards Shortlists: Australian Crime Writers Association
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: IN WADERS FROM MARS
Skin Health Update
While a lot of things are getting worse, according to the skin cancer doc, things look better. I have over a dozen places from head to toe she and other folks have been keeping an eye on to see if they would go bad. She did the full body check yesterday and said all was good. In fact, not only was there nothing new, the places of concern looked way better.
And I got out of there without even having to do a copay as they said they would fight it out with insurance. I think their billing person took pity on me as by the time I got to her, I was in tremendous pain and exhausted. She asked twice if I was okay to drive home. I assured her I was and then sat in the car with the ac on and the engine running for ten minutes asking myself the same question.
I, and the car, made the 45 minute drive home in one piece.
So, I am relieved. Also, more than a bit surprised that everything was okay. It will be eight years on 12/1 since Sandi passed. I never expected to make it more than a couple of years. I saw a lot of folks lose their fight when Sandi was going through her hell. I also saw many surviving spouses soon get diagnosed with cancer after their loved one died. Most did not survive their own battle. I always figured that situation was inevitable for me.
That has not happened, apparently, to this point. The skin over this human meat sack of aging spare parts seems to be okay.
Posts
