Wednesday, January 17, 2018
MAKE MINE MYSTERY: Why We Write Mysteries
MAKE MINE MYSTERY: Why We Write Mysteries: by Janis Patterson Someone once asked me if I had ever seen a psychiatrist. When I could close my mouth again, I said of course not, a...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Triple Agent, Sam Houston, Kristin Lav...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Triple Agent, Sam Houston, Kristin Lav...: Reported by Kristin Nevermore began with a serious book: The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA by Joby W...
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: DARING TO LOVE AGAIN!
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Gravetapping: LYNCHED by Ed Gorman
Gravetapping: LYNCHED by Ed Gorman: Ed Gorman wrote no fewer than 10 western novels for Berkley between 1999 and 2006. The earlier titles tended to be branded with a single...
Review: Down A Dark Road: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo
“’Be careful in your search for the
truth, Kate Burkholder.’ Easing his arm away from me, he goes back to mucking. ‘You
may not like what you find.’”
(Page 216, Down A Dark Road)
A normal day in the
life of Chief of Police Kate Burkholder goes sideways when she gets a call from
the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. Deputy Warden Jerry
Murphy of the prison 100 miles away from Painters Mill painter’s calls to let
her know that Joseph King has escaped their facility. The same Joseph King who
was her childhood friend all those years ago and lived over on the next farm.
Locked up in the
Mansfield Correctional Institution for the shotgun murder of his wife, he is
somehow gotten out and is on the run. After his conviction, his five kids moved
to live with his sister and her husband in Painters Mill. Rebecca and Daniel Beachy
adopted the five kids and continued to raise them as Amish. That means that
nobody can call and alert them to what has happened as they don’t have a phone,
electricity, or many of the other things that would be available to other families
at risk. As Chief of Police of Painters Mill, Ohio, it is up to Kate
Burkholder to not only let the Beachys know what has happened, but bring Joseph
in should he come near.
The picture she has
had of Joseph King in recent years is in sharp contrast to the boy she grew up with
all those many years ago. Though Joseph always claimed his innocence, the
evidence and his criminal history in the months leading up to his wife’s murder
told a far different story. The case turned into a media sensationalized trial
and in the end Joseph was convicted of murdering his wife, Naomi King.
While Burkholder is
sure that he won’t set foot anywhere near Painters Mill, a desperate man will
go to amazing lengths to see his kids. It isn’t long before Kate Burkholder is
reminded of that fact and a lot more in Down A Dark Road.
Once again award
winning author Linda Castillo has spun an intense web of atmosphere, mystery,
and memories of bygone days and people. The past is always a living character
in the Burkholder mysteries and this read is no exception. A current time
mystery with tentacles reaching back to multiple points in the past, the
tension swiftly ratchets upward over the last third of the book as Burkholder seeks
the answers so that the dead may actually rest in peace.
The latest in the
series, Down A Dark Road, is highly recommended. As always is the case
in any good series it is best to read in order starting with Sworn
To Silence.
For a more detailed
review of Down A Dark Road make sure you read Lesa Holstine’s review
from last July.
Down A Dark Road: A Kate Burkholder
Novel
Linda Castillo
http://www.lindacastillo.com/
Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
http://www.minotaurbooks.com/
July 2017
ISBN# 978-1-250-12128-8
Hardback (also available in eBook and audio formats)
304 Pages
$26.99
Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
http://www.minotaurbooks.com/
July 2017
ISBN# 978-1-250-12128-8
Hardback (also available in eBook and audio formats)
304 Pages
$26.99
Book provided by the good folks of the Dallas Texas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2018
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Our Old Apartment
While poking around tonight, I discovered our old apartment is now back
on the market and available as of 2/8/18. That means the folks who took
it over after we moved and everything did not last six months. Don't
know why.
Maybe, like us, they got very tired of waiting weeks on end for things to get repaired. Maybe, like us, they got very tired of having the entire building shut off for hours and even days so that a minor water leak in one apartment could be repaired. Maybe, like us, they got very upset over learning that the neighbors were being told they were the ones responsible for issues in the building that had nothing at all to do with them.
I have no idea. But, I do find it interesting that the old apartment is now suddenly again available. I miss the fireplace, the creek side porch and view, and most of the neighbors. We were very lucky that last year to have a lot of good folks as neighbors.
I don't miss the noise, waiting for weeks to get something simple fixed, dealing with a management team that had little to no regard for us as tenants, and many other things.
But, I would do it all again in a second if it meant Sandi was back with us.
Maybe, like us, they got very tired of waiting weeks on end for things to get repaired. Maybe, like us, they got very tired of having the entire building shut off for hours and even days so that a minor water leak in one apartment could be repaired. Maybe, like us, they got very upset over learning that the neighbors were being told they were the ones responsible for issues in the building that had nothing at all to do with them.
I have no idea. But, I do find it interesting that the old apartment is now suddenly again available. I miss the fireplace, the creek side porch and view, and most of the neighbors. We were very lucky that last year to have a lot of good folks as neighbors.
I don't miss the noise, waiting for weeks to get something simple fixed, dealing with a management team that had little to no regard for us as tenants, and many other things.
But, I would do it all again in a second if it meant Sandi was back with us.
 |
| Kevin and Sandi (on the right) |
Do Some Damage: Preaching to the Choir
Do Some Damage: Preaching to the Choir: I'm not convinced a lot of people sell books on social media. I certainly know that I've found it harder to find meaningful recommen...
Review: New Alleys For Nothing Men: Crime and Noir Stories by Michael Pool
New Alleys For Nothing Men: Crime and
Noir Stories is one of those
cases where the title makes it clear that the reading inside is not going to be
of a light and fluffy nature. If one had not already picked up on the lack of a
feline presence on the cover, or missed the idea that alleys are almost always
trouble, and had no idea what “nothing men” meant, the fact that the subtitle referred
to Crime
and Noir Stories, should have made it clear that these tales won’t make
you feel good about the world. For the male reader, these are not role models
to live your life by though a couple of them might have some highly entertaining
stories to share down at the strip club between acts.
This collection of
short stories by Michael Pool opens with “Waylon, On Rerun.” Waylon is stealing
stuff from a house when Bernie shows at the back fence. Bernie is not all
together and appears to be a bit slow on the uptake as to what is happening at
Mr. Collins’ house. He might be talked into helping with the television and some
other stuff if Waylon works it right.
It is a hot and humid
night as Karl Joyce drinks and smokes. Living in the trailer across from his
house in “Tote The Note” is hard. He is out in the trailer for good reason. IRS
auditor Timothy Sorren is not helping matters at all and neither is his wife,
Claudia.
It is hard to drive
down a snowy street with one hand holding an old t-shirt over the stab wound in
your stomach, but that is what Harman is dealing with in “Two Feet Deep.” That
and the body of Ray Miller in the back end of the old Subaru wagon. Ray should
have stayed at Bingo like he normally did. In addition to dealing with his
stomach wound, Harman has a major problem. How do you get rid of a body when
the ground has been frozen for months and will be frozen for months to come?
The screams at night
are the hardest to deal with in “Edict From Nowhere” 35 years inside means our
narrator has seen a lot in prison and has some stories to tell.
Manny owns Thompson’s
on Twelve Street. He has a soft spot for his fellow ex-cons looking for a
better life so he hired Travis to be a meat cutter. Travis hates the job in “Doo-Doo
The Biker Boyee.” He hated the job until Miss Lynn came in the neighborhood
bodega to place an order.
Standing at the
grave, Terrance barely remembers his grandmother Irma. He will be joining her
soon. He has some things to do first in “Eye Of The Hurricane.”
Franklin has found a
lot of things in returned formal wear, but this is a totally new deal in
“Franklin And The Finger.” How do you explain it to the police? What do you do
if a customer walks in while are holding a severed finger? People might get the
wrong idea about you.
Mandy needs Kate’s
help in “An Art Show Mating Call’ and for very good reason. Timothy Briggs is
causing trouble again.
The very air seems to
be on fire from the noon sun in “Life Of A Salesman.” Our narrator, Marv, is
not very good at selling cars. The customer that just showed up on the lot
appears to be far more trouble than he is worth.
A dealership is a
part of the next story titled “Queen Of The Rotten.” At least Helga is still working
at the strip club even if he gets there two hours later than normal. Waldo’s
might be your typical strip club, but what sets it apart is the magnificent Helga.
Ralston likes to
shoot out car windows using his pellet gun. Nobody is supposed to get hurt.
Until it happens in “Two Pulled From The Waters of Lake Genevieve.”
Mike Treadwell had a
very distinctive plan for when he got out of prison. It is finally going to
happen as the “Midnight at the San Fransican” begins. It has been ten years,
but the forced wait has been worth it.
As made very clear by
the book title, these short stories are not happy in tone or substance. New
Alleys For Nothing Men: Crime and Noir Stories contains tales of men
pushed to the breaking point. Some would argue these men made the choices that
ultimately led to their respective fates. Others would argue that these men
were pawns in an elaborate chess game orchestrated by fate and she is one very cruel
mistress. The tales in New Alleys For Nothing Men: Crime and Noir
Stories are good ones.
New Alleys For Nothing Men: Crime and
Noir Stories
Michael Pool
Short Stack Books
February
2016
ASIN: B018SSZ99C
eBook (also available
in print format)
156 Pages
$2.99
Digital ARC
supplied by the author months ago in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R.
Tipple ©2018
Monday, January 15, 2018
A Year Ago Today....
My mom passed. It happened just before 3 pm this day a year ago and was as peaceful as it could have possible been. She had been so unhappy after my Dad passed and so desperately wanted to be with him, it had finally happened for her. I consoled myself with those thoughts these past weeks and months.
After Dad died, Mom never was the same. Dad was the only man she had ever been with, the only man she had ever loved, and he was her entire world. She wanted to be gone too. I never understood why I and my family, my brother and his family, and several other close friends were not enough. We, the living were still here, and yet she wanted no part of any of that. She wanted to be gone with every fiber of her being. If she could have made that happen and had been assured of being successful, she would have done it.
She tried to explain why she felt that way and tried to do so on more than one occasion. I never got it. I tried not to take it personally. Though, it did feel like a rejection. As the years passed and her grief got worse, her attitude cut deeply. Sandi, who so desperately wanted to live and was fighting setback after setback, tried to talk to her and got nowhere. My brother felt it too though being out of state he did not see it every week nor hear it every phone call as I did being here. It did not help that she was slowly losing her mental faculties and knew it and fought all of us as we tried to get her help for that and other issues.
I now sit in her house, in the same kitchen less than a foot from where I had found her after she had gone down due to a stroke and could not get up, and now totally understand where she was coming from every single day of those five years after Dad died. I now get why she felt so alone.
I now know it was not a rejection. It was never about us, the family, or anything else, but her pain. It was a grief that encompassed everything. A grief that swallows one whole.
I so get it now.
And, I really wish, I did not.
After Dad died, Mom never was the same. Dad was the only man she had ever been with, the only man she had ever loved, and he was her entire world. She wanted to be gone too. I never understood why I and my family, my brother and his family, and several other close friends were not enough. We, the living were still here, and yet she wanted no part of any of that. She wanted to be gone with every fiber of her being. If she could have made that happen and had been assured of being successful, she would have done it.
She tried to explain why she felt that way and tried to do so on more than one occasion. I never got it. I tried not to take it personally. Though, it did feel like a rejection. As the years passed and her grief got worse, her attitude cut deeply. Sandi, who so desperately wanted to live and was fighting setback after setback, tried to talk to her and got nowhere. My brother felt it too though being out of state he did not see it every week nor hear it every phone call as I did being here. It did not help that she was slowly losing her mental faculties and knew it and fought all of us as we tried to get her help for that and other issues.
I now sit in her house, in the same kitchen less than a foot from where I had found her after she had gone down due to a stroke and could not get up, and now totally understand where she was coming from every single day of those five years after Dad died. I now get why she felt so alone.
I now know it was not a rejection. It was never about us, the family, or anything else, but her pain. It was a grief that encompassed everything. A grief that swallows one whole.
I so get it now.
And, I really wish, I did not.
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Breakdown by B.A. Paris: Reviewed by Jeanne It’s the clichéd dark and stormy night when Cass decides to take the shortcut home, even though her husband,...
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: TEXAS LITERARY CALENDAR 1/15-21
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: TEXAS LITERARY CALENDAR 1/15-21: Bookish goings-on in Texas for the week of January 15-21, 2018: Special Events: FronteraFest 2018 , Austin, January 16-February 17 Au...
Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Faithful Unto Death by Stephanie Jaye Evans
Faithful Unto Death by Stephanie Jaye Evans (Berkley,
2012) is a contemporary amateur detective mystery set in one of the planned
communities outside Houston, Texas. Protagonist Walker “Bear” Wells is a former
University of Texas starting football guard and now a Church of Christ
minister. Football and religion are not unusual in Sugar Land: the priest at
the area Catholic Church played for Notre Dame.
When Graham Garcia is found dead early one morning on the
local golf course, the police learn from his wife Honey that the victim had a
meeting with Bear a few days earlier. They want to know what the meeting was
about; Bear is reluctant to tell them that Graham wanted to divorce his wife
because he knows it will come as a shock to her. Honey is the much-loved only daughter
of a rowdy oil baron, who incurs police suspicion, as does his teenage
grandson, who Bear is stunned to learn is seeing his own 14-year-old daughter. Reports
of questionable dealings at the victim’s law firm produce more names of people
who would have been glad to see him silenced for good, resulting in a nice
assortment of suspects.
The police detective in charge of the case repeatedly warns
Bear to stay out of the investigation but Bear always has a good reason to talk
to one or another of the witnesses who could be the murderer, but he can’t
believe it of any of them. This part of the story is handled especially well.
Too often amateur detectives involve themselves in police probes on a gossamer-thin
pretext. Bear ends up identifying the perpetrator by accident while on one of
his fact-finding missions.
Families are important in this book, traditional families
and blended families and adoptive families. How they meet their commitments to
each other and how those commitments come to exist in the first place are key
motivators for several of the characters. Bear, who is perceptive in some ways
and clueless in others, is one of those characters. He makes the common mistake
of expecting his second daughter to be exactly like his first one and making
him recognize they are not takes more effort than I think it should have.
This book won the 2010 William F. Deeck-Malice
Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers. It was an Agatha nominee for best first
novel the year it was published. There is only one sequel, which is
unfortunate, as this is an immensely readable story. Recommended.
·
Paperback: 344 pages
·
Publisher: Berkley; 1 edition (June 5, 2012)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 0425247732
·
ISBN-13: 978-0425247730
Aubrey Hamilton © 2018
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian
who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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