Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Mystery Fanfare: Inspired by actual events… Guest post by Gina X. Grant
Mystery Fanfare: Inspired by actual events… Guest post by Gina X. G...: It happened to a friend of a friend… Ripped from the headlines… Inspired by actual events… Back in 2020, my niece excitedly told me, “You’l...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer: Reviewed by Kristin Evie Sage is looking for a job. Employment isn’t that easy to come by in her fantasy/magical/medieval kingdom of R...
Beneath the Stains of Time: Dr. Morelle Investigates (2009) by Ernest Dudley
Beneath the Stains of Time: Dr. Morelle Investigates (2009) by Ernest Dudley: Vivian Ernest Coltman-Allen, known better under his adopted stage-and penname of " Ernest Dudley ," was an English actor, dramatis...
SleuthSayers: A Thousand Miles from Nowhere
SleuthSayers: A Thousand Miles from Nowhere: Presenting the Edgar Award for Best Short Story. Photo by Aslan Chalom. I returned home after two weeks on the road to find myself hip-deep...
Monday, May 13, 2024
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Lethal Resuscitation by Mairi Chong
Mairi Chong
is a former practicing physician from Scotland, who puts both her training and
her knowledge of the Scottish countryside to good use in her series about Dr.
Cathy Moreland, a general practitioner who lives and works in the north of
Scotland.
In the sixth
book of the series Dr. Moreland is attending a certification class for
emergency treatment of unconscious patients. The attendees all have different
reasons for taking the class, some need the continuing education credits, some
want to upgrade their skills, one couple needs the class as a prerequisite to
their being able to take a position on one of the islands off the coast of
Scotland. The three instructors are urgent care specialists of long standing,
one of whom is a close friend of Dr. Moreland’s from medical school.
The lead
instructor is arrogant and overbearing and loses no time in antagonizing
everyone, including the other instructors. His teaching style involves
humiliating students and contradicting his colleagues. At the end of the first
day of the course, everyone is feeling tense and Dr. Moreland retires early
with a migraine. Most of the others settle in for a long night of drinking.
The next day
is supposed to be a practical application of the previous day’s instruction. A
room was to be set up with replica patients. When Dr. Moreland and a few of the
others enter the room in the morning, they find the body of the lead instructor
who has been suffocated with some of the equipment left for use during the workshop.
Since the
hotel has been closed for the sole use of the class, the pool of suspects is
well defined. All of them naturally are required to stay during the
investigation, creating an uncomfortable and anxious atmosphere. Adding to the
strain are anonymous letters that have been left for most of the participants.
The plot here
is more involved than I expected. All of the doctors have an unhappy episode in
their past and therein lies the motivation for the murder, which is not obvious
to the reader. The killer is well hidden in plain sight with some excellent
misdirection. The descriptions of the Scottish coast could be borrowed for the
local tourism agency. Especially for fans of medical mysteries.
·
Publisher: Bloodhound Books (May
31, 2022)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 242 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1504076532
·
ISBN-13: 978-1504076531
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3y7L0K7
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Little Big Crimes: Mine Eyes Dazzle, by M.K. Waller
Little Big Crimes: Mine Eyes Dazzle, by M.K. Waller: "Mine Eyes Dazzle," by M.K. Waller, in Dark of the Day, edited by Kaye George, Down and Out Books, 2024. As you probably know by...
Supporting The Blog
If you like what we do at Kevin's Corner, please consider, if you can, making a donation using the widget on the left side of the blog. Please and Thank You.
Wife and Mother and So Missed
Sandi and I on the apartment porch a few years back. She was doing chemo, confident that she would beat cancer, and feeling pretty good at the time. I'd do pretty much anything to have her back here where she belongs.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Scott's Take: Aquaman: Andromeda by Ram V
Aquaman: Andromeda by Ram V, Illustrator Christian Ward, is part of the Black Label line of the DC Universe. This read is designed for adult readers and is supposed to be a stand-alone book in its own universe. In this tale, Aquaman is more of a periphery character, despite the fact that he is prominently billed. While he is the hero in the book, his role is very limited and he is by no means the central character.
The book is about the crew of an
ocean dwelling vessel that is sent to investigate a sunken alien like structure
under water. Things go wrong and Black Manta is also involved. Aquaman does
hero things and tries to save everyone from themselves.
This is a horror book, but not
very scary in my opinion. The horror is rather tame despite the Black Label
designation. The art is really good and depicts several amazing aquatic scenes.
The characters are interesting if not fully developed because of the short
length of the book. I wish Black Manta and Aquaman played bigger roles in this.
They are depicted as basically being larger than life characters so their
screen time is limited. The screen time they are used in is good, but the focus
is on ordinary people of the crew and not the big-time hero/villain.
While this is a fun book, it is
not really an Aquaman book. While it is supposed to be a horror book, I found
the horror elements rather tame. If one has experience with any Lovecraftian
horror, then the elements here are not very innovative or unique. It’s easy not
to be afraid when you have seen this type of thing before.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3TNzqfM
My hardback reading copy came
from the Lakewood Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2024
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
