Sunday, April 22, 2018
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson: Reviewed by Kristin New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson delivers an origin story worthy of a superhero, as we...
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Grandson Picture
Justin and Mom are doing very well and now home. Below is another picture from earlier hours in the hospital.
Gravetapping: SLAMMER by Allan Guthrie
Gravetapping: SLAMMER by Allan Guthrie: Nick Glass is a rookie guard in a Scottish prison. He’s been on the job six weeks with bad results. The other guards make trouble for hi...
KRL This week Update for 4/21/18
Up in KRL this morning a review & giveaway of "Nailed" by Avery Daniels along with a bit about Earth Day by Avery http://kingsriverlife.com/04/21/nailed-by-avery-daniels/ And a review & signed giveaway of "Double Dog Dare" by Gretchen Archer along with an interesting interview with Gretchen http://kingsriverlife.com/04/21/double-dog-dare-by-gretchen-archer/ We also have a review & giveaway of "Date with Malice" by Julia Chapman http://kingsriverlife.com/04/21/date-with-malice-by-julia-chapman/ And a review & giveaway of "Perils, Plots, and Puppies" by Maggie Pill along with a fun pet related post by Maggie http://kingsriverlife.com/04/21/perils-plots-and-puppies-by-maggie-pill/ And a flash mystery short story by Maggie-beth Rees http://kingsriverlife.com/04/21/one-fine-day-mystery-short-story/ And an article about Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce mysteries http://kingsriverlife.com/04/21/alan-bradleys-flavia-de-luce/ For those who also enjoy fantasy, a review & giveaway of "Lake Silence" by Anne Bishop http://kingsriverlife.com/04/21/lake-silence-by-anne-bishop/ Up on KRL News & Reviews we have a review & giveaway of "A Hole in One" by Judy Penz Sheluk, along with a fun mini interview with Judy about golf http://www.krlnews.com/2018/04/a-hole-in-one-by-judy-penz-sheluk.html
Happy Reading, Lorie
Mystery Fanfare: EARTH DAY CRIME FICTION: Environmental Mysteries
Mystery Fanfare: EARTH DAY CRIME FICTION: Environmental Mysteries: Earth Day 2018 Earth Day! Today the world considers climate change, environmental issues, and how we can save our planet. At least I ...
Friday, April 20, 2018
Email Is Out
My email remains offline and not working as it has since 1 PM today. If you are awaiting a response from me, please be patient as this problem--like pretty much everything else in my life--- is beyond my control.
FFB Review: Coffin Corner by Dell Shannon
It is Friday and that means
it is time for storms and rains here in North Texas with yet another severe
weather watch later today. It also means it is time for Friday’s Forgotten
Books hosted by Patti Abbott. We have a real treat here on the blog today as
Aubrey Hamilton offers us her review of the 1966 book, Coffin Corner by Dell Shannon.
Amazon does not list the month of publication. Depending on when it came out in
the year, I was most likely 4 years old. Suffice it to say, I was not reading
much back then and have not read this one. Be sure to check out the other reading
suggestions for today over at Patti’s blog.
Dell Shannon was one of the pen names used by Elizabeth
Linington to turn out an impressive list of police procedurals between 1960 and
1988. Set in southern California, they documented galloping societal changes
and showcased her own conservative political leanings while portraying a
Homicide team juggling multiple investigations.
Coffin Corner (William Morrow, 1966) is the 11th
book featuring Lt. Luis Mendoza and his group of detectives in which they learn
a suicide isn’t what it appears to be and neither is the heart attack of a thrift
store owner. Officers sent to notify her family that Eliza McCann died in her
store find an eccentric group living in a run-down hotel in an old section of
Los Angeles. An undertaker with no customers, a convicted felon, a confused
lady awaiting the return of her fiancé from World War I, a would-be opera
singer, an astrologer, and similar offbeat individuals have drifted to the
tired old building because of its low cost and lack of judgment from other
residents. Their oddities are no more than a conversational tidbit among the
detectives until the autopsy reveals Eliza was poisoned. Then the question of
just how strange these people really are becomes serious police business.
Linington must have had a good time writing this story, the
characters are entertainingly bizarre and the plot stops just this side of over
the top. It’s hard not to think The
Addams Family television show, which premiered two years before this book
was released, inspired her. Linington sketched breathing characters in a few
words and her plots were inventive. Her meshing of the personal lives of her
detectives with their professional lives was a pleasure to read. I always loved
her books and they were on my must-buy list as long as they were published. I
find though their descriptions of life in southern California in the 1960s and
1970s were just a little too faithful and they didn’t wear well with time. Her
practice of talking about how much everything costs profoundly dates the books
and the casual racism is jarring. And with all of the scandals of the past 25
years, it’s hard to see any police force as unreservedly wonderful as they are
portrayed here. Still, she wrote fine detective stories and Linington was on
top of her game with this one.
Aubrey Hamilton ©2018
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal
IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
A New Tipple Has Arrived
I am a grandfather for the second time as Karl's wife, Amy, gave birth to her second child this afternoon. A little over six pounds, Justin entered the world at 2:22 PM today. Baby and Mom are doing well.
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: NEW RELEASE PLUS AN AMAZON SALE FOR YOU!
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: NEW RELEASE PLUS AN AMAZON SALE FOR YOU!: I'm giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to someone who comments today! I’m excited to announce that TEXAS RAINBOW , book 2 of the Tex...
Do Some Damage: The Return of No One Wants To Read Your Book
Do Some Damage: The Return of No One Wants To Read Your Book: By David Nemeth Last month I wrote a post here called " No One Wants to Read Your Book " and today is a variation of that th...
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: River Town, Girl on the Velvet Swing, N...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: River Town, Girl on the Velvet Swing, N...: Reported by Ambrea Nevermore started with River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler, the first in a trilogy of...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Theft and the Prophecy: Two Fictional Impossib...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Theft and the Prophecy: Two Fictional Impossib...: In my previous blog-post, " The Ghost and the Canary ," I covered two real-life examples of the impossible crime story and decide...
Review: August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones
With twelve million dollars in the bank
and after a year sabbatical overseas, August Snow has returned home to the house he grew up in the “Mexicantown”
area of Detroit Michigan. The old neighborhood, much like the rest of Detroit,
has taken a beating and is struggling to survive. August Snow has do ne his
part by putting some of the money he won from the city after his wrongful
termination from the police force into his house as well as some of the
neighboring houses. The son of an African-American father and a Mexican-
American mother, August Snow is trying to rebuild his life and finally come to
terms with his past.
While August Snow is back and very
quietly minding his own business, some welcome his presence and many others do
not. One of those that welcomes August Snow back is Captain Ray Danbury of the
Detroit Police Department. One of a very few friends on the force, Danbury is
acting as a messenger for a wealthy widow by the name of Eleanore Paget.
Eleanore Paget wants August Snow and
reached out to her numerous contacts to spread the word. She has been difficult
in the way only the rich can. It isn’t long before August Snow is out at her
expansive estate at Grose Point. It isn’t the first time he has been at her
home and that ties into the reason she wants him now.
Owner of a private wealth management
and investment bank, Titan Investment Securities Group which dates back to the
late 1800s where her great great grandfather started it, she is sure something
is wrong. She can’t provide actual details other than a sense she is being
frozen out by the CEO, the board, and other parties. Even though August Snow is
not licensed as a private investigator, she wants his help and is not pleased
when she does not instantly get it. While he can look at a few things for her, there
is not much he can do.
Within hours she is dead and her name
is added to the long list of regrets in the life of August Snow. He also knows
that her death certainly was not a suicide. He begins to investigate and soon
enters into a modern day war zone hotter than anything he saw in combat
overseas.
August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones is an incredible
read. Much like Down The River Unto The Sea by Walter Mosley, inherent racism
is a dominating character at work throughout the book as is the consequences of
serving on a police force and the loss of a career and that legacy. At the same
time in August Snow the power of wealth and what it can do for good and
evil is also a major point of the book.
At it is heart, the book is part
thriller, part mystery, and part crime fiction. The ratios of those parts
change a bit from page to page and chapter to chapter as author Stephen Mack
Jones crafts a read that is very hard to put down. The result is an often
intense read that blends in relevant social commentary while not slowing down a
bit.
Simply put, August Snow, by Stephen
Mack Jones, is one amazing read and highly recommended.
I had never heard of this book until I recently
read an excellent review of it by David Nemeth. You should read his review and check
out his other offerings at his Unlawful Acts website.
August Snow
Stephen Mack Jones
Stephen Mack Jones
Soho Press
ISBN#
978-1-61695-718-6
February 2017
Hardback (also available
in eBook, paperback, and audio formats)
320 Pages
$25.95
Copy provided by the
good folks of the Lochwood
Branch of the Dallas Public Library.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2018
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