Lesa's Book Critiques: A Scandal in Mayfair by Katharine Schellman
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Jungle Red Writers: A Devil of a Dérive from Midge Raymond & John Yunker
Jungle Red Writers: A Devil of a Dérive from Midge Raymond & John Yunker: HALLIE EPHRON: Today it's my pleasure to introduce you all to the writing team of Midge Raymond and John Yunker and DEVILS ISLAND,...
SleuthSayers: Mixing Crime and Coming-of-Age Stories
SleuthSayers: Mixing Crime and Coming-of-Age Stories: I have never set out to write a coming-of-age story. When plotting, I usually don't think in such broad terms. I focus on the trees--who...
Jerry's House of Everything: ROCKY KING DETECTIVE: MURDER PhD (OCTOBER 26, 1952)
Jerry's House of Everything: ROCKY KING DETECTIVE: MURDER PhD (OCTOBER 26, 1952): Roscoe Karns stars as Inspector Rocky King. three hours before Dayton Merrill is scheduled to be executed for murder, King gets a phone cal...
Monday, August 19, 2024
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Art Nouveau by Rosalind Ormiston and Michael Robinson
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Art Nouveau by Rosalind Ormiston and Michael Rob...: Reviewed by Jeanne An often overlooked gem of our collection is the Oversized Books. While there are books on many topics, from ca...
Little Big Crimes: Don't Push Me, by Liza Cody
Little Big Crimes: Don't Push Me, by Liza Cody: "Don't Push Me," by Liza Cody, in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August 2024. This is the fourth story by Cody to mak...
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh
The 8th
book in the very fine Eddie Flynn legal thriller series by civil rights lawyer Steve
Cavanagh is finally available. Released in the UK in August 2024, it won’t be
sold in the US until March 2025. Fortunately bookstores in the UK will ship to
the US, for a price of course, and I did not have to wait until next year to
read it. Cavanagh lives in northern Ireland but he sets his books in New York.
Margaret
Blakemore was shot in her home in an upscale New York City neighborhood one
night. An anonymous phone call to the police said that the killer was John
Jackson, relative newcomer to the street. Jackson was home alone, with his
family out of town. A search of the Jackson house turned up the murder weapon,
which Jackson said he didn’t own and had never seen before. The prints on it
were not his, yet the DNA found on it was.
Jackson is a
pediatric surgeon at New York University Hospital and has the money to hire the
best law firm in the city. They in turn retained Eddie Flynn because of his
record of success in capital murder cases. Flynn’s investigators set out to
learn everything possible about the victim and the evidence to find something
the police had overlooked. Jackson is reeling from the accusation. He and his
family recently moved to the street and know few people as yet. There is no
obvious connection between them and Blakemore.
In a parallel
story line the anonymous caller is revealed to be Ruby Johnson, the Jackson’s
part-time child care provider who worked at several houses in the wealthy neighborhood
where maids and au pairs and nannies were routine. While Ruby’s outward
demeanor radiated helpfulness, inwardly she was doing everything she could to set
Jackson up as the culprit. The overriding question of course is why? She barely
knew the Jacksons, had not worked for them long, and could not possibly have
cause to wreck their lives. Yet wrecking them she is. The hospital suspends
Jackson, who lived for his work with desperately ill children, and then the
neighbors begin to pressure the family to leave. The Jacksons are falling apart
under the stress and Flynn has no choice but to expedite the trial when he
would rather have delayed it.
I wished that
the two main characters had more dissimilar names. John Jackson and Ruby Johnson
are just too much alike. Otherwise this is another impressive entry in the
series. Cavanagh throws one curve ball after another, in the courtroom and out.
The explanation for how Jackson’s DNA came to be on the murder weapon is
especially slick. In the end, who actually killed Margaret Blakemore and why becomes
far less significant than why Ruby Johnson was targeting the Jacksons. When the
answer comes, as usual with Cavanagh, it is startling. For fans of legal
thrillers and strong mysteries in general. Recommended.
· Publisher: Headline (1
Aug. 2024)
· Language: English
· Hardcover: 400 pages
· ISBN-10: 1035408201
· ISBN-13: 978-1035408207
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3YFX2ps
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Beneath the Stains of Time: Riddle of a Lady (1956) by Anthony Gilbert
Beneath the Stains of Time: Riddle of a Lady (1956) by Anthony Gilbert: Last month, I reviewed the recently reprinted The Tragedy at Freyne (1927) by " Anthony Gilbert ," a pseudonym of Lucy Malleson, ...
Saturday, August 17, 2024
SleuthSayers: Submission Accomplished
SleuthSayers: Submission Accomplished: About two weeks ago, a good friend who's also an editor contacted me and said he needed a story for a crime anthology he was editing ...
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: LET AUDIBLE READ YOU A STORY!
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: LET AUDIBLE READ YOU A STORY!: By Caroline Clemmons What an exciting age in which we live! We can read by picking up a paper book, read on our e-reader or phone, or plug...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller: Reviewed by Jeanne Freya Lockwood used to be an antiques hunter, before the incident in Cairo ended her career. She was pushed out b...
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Lost Lands, Forgotten Stories: Alexandra Pratt
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Lost Lands, Forgotten Stories: Alexandra Pratt: Cath at Read-Warbler recommended Lost Lands, Forgotten Stories to me. The subtitle of the book is "A Woman's Journey into the ...
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