Tuesday, February 05, 2019
Review: Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones
It has
been a few months since the events in August Snow and it is dark times in
the “Mexicantown” area of Detroit. ICE agents in their blacked out Chevy Suburbans
are rolling through the area, especially at night, going after anyone and
everyone. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are following the
unofficial motto favored by the locals – “If it is brown, lock it down.” (Page
2)
While they go around putting fear in the hearts of everyone by
their presence, real crime still happens in the city of Detroit. It is June and
that means stifling heat and humidity and the climate of fear felt by so many
is not helping things. Then there is a recent suicide that was actually way
more than the tragic end of a life.
A
young woman plunged head first into the Detroit River from the Ambassador
Bridge and did not survive the encounter. Snow’s contact in the Wayne County Coroner’s
office, Dr. James Robert “Bobby” Falconi is haunted by her case. One that is
going to go nowhere as no record of her exists and the authorities, thanks to
massive budget cuts, don’t have the personnel or resources to spend the time to
find out who she is or what happened to her. Far easier to just call it a
suicide by a Jane Doe and close the case.
Simpler,
but not right.
The dead woman is Hispanic and Bobbi hopes that somebody August Snow
knows, and he knows many folks in all walks of life, will put a name to her.
With a name there should be a way to find her family. Loved ones who have no
idea where she is at and should be there to lay her down at her final resting
place. Bobbi is very upset by the case and August quickly agrees to look into
things and try to identify her.
Finding out her name and who she is was the easy part. Dealing
with what the young woman was facing in the days and hours until she jumped is
a much bigger and far more dangerous problem in Lives Laid Away by
Stephen Mack Jones.
Using the always present topics of racism, immigration, human trafficking,
and more, award winning author Stephen Mack Jones has crafted a superb sequel
to his debut mystery, August Snow. One could easily toss
around the terms “ripped from the headlines” and “inspired by true events” and
one would not be wrong though one would be simplistic. While those concepts and
ideas are background in the read, the book is far more complicated than a drama
of the week. While dealing with such subjects, Lives Laid Away can’t
help but contain a few accurate observations about the current political
climate of the country, the positive aspects of immigration, as well as the
lives of those who, for whatever reason, live in the shadows providing services
while asking nothing more than to be left alone. Those fact driven details, all
of which serve to conflict with the conservative point of view regarding
immigration and immigration policy, serve as nuanced background to a very complex
mystery.
A very complex mystery that is built on a complicated main
character, a cast of richly drawn secondary characters, and a multilayered backstory
for nearly everyone in the book that continues the series as a whole. Like any good series it is always best to read
in order. Such is the case here where Lives Laid Away not only builds on the
events in August Snow, such evets are frequently referenced throughout
the book.
If I
was one of those people who ranked their favorite books of the year, August
Snow would have easily made my top five if not the number one spot. Lives
Laid Away is right there with the first book.
My
review of August Snow from last April can be found here.
Lives Laid Away
Stephen Mack Jones
Stephen Mack Jones
Soho Press
ISBN# 978-1-61695-959-3
January 2019
Hardback (also
available in eBook and audio formats)
312 Pages
$26.95
Kevin R. Tipple ©2019
Monday, February 04, 2019
Mystery Fanfare: CHINESE NEW YEAR MYSTERIES // CHINESE NEW YEAR CRI...
Mystery Fanfare: CHINESE NEW YEAR MYSTERIES // CHINESE NEW YEAR CRI...: 恭賀發財 Gung Hay Fat Choy! This is the Year of the Pig. Chinese New Year starts tomorrow, and I've put together my late...
Gravetapping: EASY GO by Michael Crichton (as by John Lange)
Gravetapping: EASY GO by Michael Crichton (as by John Lange): In the late 1960s and early 1970s Michael Crichton published eight thrillers under the pseudonym John Lange. The Lange novels are some...
Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Rescued by David Rosenfelt
Rescued by David
Rosenfelt (Minotaur, 2018) is the 17th Andy Carpenter legal mystery.
The titles of all of the books in this series are dog-related and dogs are
front and center in this one. Key to the plot is the common practice of transporting
large numbers of animals at risk of euthanasia in rural Southern shelters to
the Northeast where homes are found for them. The transporters are generally
volunteers coordinated by another volunteer with great logistical and planning
skills.
Andy
Carpenter is a defense lawyer who is happy not to work. He spends his days with
his wife Laurie and son Ricky and with the dogs at the rescue he runs with his
friend Willie. So when Laurie asks him to take on the defense of a man who’s
been accused of murder, he’s reluctant. When he learns the victim was driving a
truck of 70 shelter dogs to new homes, he’s appalled. When he learns the
accused is Laurie’s former boyfriend, he’s looking for the door. Only Laurie’s
insistence gets him involved with a case that appears on the surface to be open
and shut.
As
usual with this series, there is far more going on than immediately meets the
eye. Never mistake these books for amusing and fluffy stories about doggies.
Despite the light-hearted wisecracks that Andy and his friends exchange and
Andy’s besottedness about his animals, this is a well-plotted mystery with
plenty of courtroom drama and unpleasant people full of nefarious intent who
have found a sickeningly realistic way of manipulating the stock market to
their advantage.
David
Rosenfelt is a committed dog rescuer who has found time to create and document
a group of likable, credible characters that represent various parts of the
U.S. judicial system. His other books include stand-alone thrillers and a new
series featuring a New Jersey state police officer. His biographical story that
describes his family’s move with some 25 dogs from southern California to Maine,
Dogtripping
(St. Martin’s, 2013), received a Library Journal starred review.
·
Hardcover: 304 pages
·
Publisher: Minotaur
Books (July 17, 2018)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 1250133068
·
ISBN-13: 978-1250133069
Aubrey Hamilton
©2019
Aubrey
Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and
reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, February 03, 2019
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star by V...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star by V...: Reviewed by Jeanne Police Inspector Chopra (retired) is enjoying his new job as a private investigator. He named his busines...
Saturday, February 02, 2019
Do Some Damage: Writing Is Subjective by David Nemeth
Do Some Damage: Writing Is Subjective: By David Nemeth Back in August 2018, Brian Lindenmuth posted a thread on Twitter about Allan Guthrie and his books which Lindenmuth f...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Dovekeepers, Bookshop of Yesterdays, Pa...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Dovekeepers, Bookshop of Yesterdays, Pa...: Reported by Ambrea Nevermore started their meeting off by sharing The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman, which tells the story of ...
KRL This Week Update for 2/2/19
Up in KRL this morning a
review and giveaway of "Baker Street Wedding" by Michael Robertson
and a fun guest post by Michael about 221 B Baker Street
We also have reviews and
giveaways of 4 more mysteries for your winter reading-"Deceased and
Desist": A Tallie Graver Mystery by Misty Simon, "Murder by the
Book": Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery by Lauren Elliott, "Murder
at the Mill": An Iris Grey Mystery by M.B. Shaw, "The Novel Art of Murder":
A Mystery Bookshop Mystery by V.M. Burns
And a review of the
first in a new Hallmark Movies and Mysteries mystery movie series-"Ruby
Herring Mysteries: Silent Witness"
Also reviews and
giveaways of 3 mystery thrillers-"Fractured Truth": Bone Gap
Travellers by Susan Furlong, "Before It’s Too Late": FBI K-9 by Sara Driscoll,
and "Storm Rising": FBI K-9 by Sara Driscoll
And we have a review and
giveaway of "Death Bakes a Pecan Pie" by Livia J Washburn
Up on KRL News and
Reviews a review and giveaway of "The Wrong Boy" by Cathy Ace
And a review and ebook
giveaway of "The Bone Shroud" by Jean Rabe
And a review and ebook
giveaway of the suspense novel "The Woman America Loves a Latte" by
Holly Tierney-Bedord, author
Happy reading,
Lorie
Friday, February 01, 2019
Blood-Red Pencil: Seven Proven Strategies for Editing and Proofreadi...
Blood-Red Pencil: Seven Proven Strategies for Editing and Proofreadi...: Image by Quinn Kampschroer , via Pixabay 1) After you finish writing it, put your document away for a while. Hours, days, weeks or even ...
SleuthSayers: Besty McBestface 2018 by Robert Lopresti
SleuthSayers: Besty McBestface 2018: by Robert Lopresti I was somewhat surprised to discover that this is my tenth annual list of the best short mysteries of the year, as de...
FFB Review: THE REMAKE: AS TIME GOES BY (1997) by Stephen Humphrey Bogart Reviewed by Barry Ergang
Just over five years
ago today this review first appeared on the blog. Seemed like a good time to
run Barry’s 2014 review again. Make sure you head over to Patti’s blog for the full list of
reading suggestions for this first day of February 2019.
THE REMAKE: AS TIME GOES BY (1997) by Stephen Humphrey Bogart
Reviewed by Barry Ergang
 |
| Paperback |
Reveling in the energy New
York City Hollywood legends
who are still revered for their dramatic skills as much as for their "star
qualities," and who will always be remembered for, above all else, their
performances in the iconic film "As Time Goes By."
R.J., as he is continually referred to in the third-person
narrative, is very enamored of one Casey Wingate, a New York-based TV producer.
Normally a love'-em-and-leave-'em type, he's somewhat conflicted because he's
never felt this way about any of the other women he's been involved with. While
together on a dinner date, they're assailed by reporters wanting R.J.'s
reaction to the news that a schlock Hollywood
studio, Andromeda Pictures, has in production a sequel to "As Time Goes
By." It's the first that R.J. has heard of it, and the information enrages
him because the original "had been the picture his parents had been working
on when they first met....The movie had turned his father from a star into the star. It had brought his mother, too,
into the front rank of Hollywood
starlets." When asked by a reporter for a comment, R.J. tells him and the
others that he hopes the "animals responsible for this die a nasty
death."
The next day his photo is in all of the newspapers—along
with his statement. When he learns that Andromeda's CEO, Janine Wright, is in New York
When Murray Belcher is murdered, R.J. is the prime suspect. But
Belcher's is only the first murder. All of the victims are associated with
Janine Wright and the sequel, and in nearly every instance, R.J. is in the vicinity.
Complicating matters is Casey, who takes a job with
Andromeda Studios as an associate producer. The fact that she'll be going to California
 |
| Hardback |
Stephen Bogart, of course, is the son of Humphrey Bogart and
Lauren Bacall, and so has first-hand knowledge of Hollywood
My copy of The Remake:
As Time Goes By was an advanced uncorrected proof, so it's possible some of
the nits I'm about to pick didn't make it into the hardcover and paperback editions
intended for public consumption.
R.J. Brooks is the viewpoint character in the novel, through
whose actions, eyes, thoughts and feelings the reader experiences events. There
are a great many passages throughout in which he's the only character in action. But instead of referring to him via the
pronouns he and him, Bogart too often (for my taste, anyway) refers to him as R.J.
Bogart's other quirk bothers me even more. Here's an example
from this portion of a scene in which R.J. is arguing with Casey about her
decision to accept the associate producer position with Andromeda Studios:
"Casey,
wait a minute—"
"No,
damn it, you wait. This isn't about you, it's about my career. This is
what I've always
wanted, R.J. If you had said anything to me about how much
it bothered you
it might have been different—"
"Casey,
you were there. You heard what I said."
"To me, R.J. You never said anything to me."
"I'm
saying it now, Casey."
"Now
is a little late, R.J."
In my experience, two people who know each other, whether
casually or intimately, don't call each other by name like that in
conversation, so I found it rather grating.
My complaints notwithstanding, The Remake: As Time Goes By,
though hardly the peak of hardboiled detective fiction, is an entertaining
novel that will most likely satisfy fans of the genre even if it doesn't knock
them out of their socks. It does contain its share of raw street language, so
easily-offended readers are advised to stay away.
© 2014, 2019 Barry Ergang
Some of Derringer Award-winner Barry
Ergang’s work can be found at Smashwords
(some freebies here) and Amazon.
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