KRL Update 6/21/2025

Up on KRL this week a review and giveaway of Emmeline Duncan's latest coffee mystery "Fatal Brouhaha" which is set during the 4th of July https://kingsriverlife.com/06/21/fatal-brouhaha-by-emmeline-duncan/

And reviews and giveaways of 2 book related cozies for your Summer TBR-"Shot Through the Book" A Lighthouse Mystery by Eva Gates, and "Hounding a Killer" by Kallie E Benjamin https://kingsriverlife.com/06/21/pair-of-bookish-cozies-for-your-summer-tbr/

 

As KRL continues to feature LGBTQ+ mystery authors for Pride, up this week we have a review of "Buried Seeds" by Veronica Gutierrez along with an interesting interview with Veronica. We also have a giveaway of "My Little Black Cocktail Book", a journal for cocktail recipes and a rocks glass from Adelita’s, Veronica’s protagonist’s fictional favorite bar https://kingsriverlife.com/06/21/buried-seeds-by-veronica-gutierrez/

 

And a review and giveaway of "The Everest Enigma" by Jeannette de Beauvoir https://kingsriverlife.com/06/21/the-everest-enigma-by-jeannette-de-beauvoir/

 

Up during the week we posted another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Susan Daly about the mystery short story she wrote for the new anthology, "Midnight Schemers & Daytime Believers" which is edited by Judy Penz Sheluk https://kingsriverlife.com/06/18/exorcising-the-ghost/

 

And another special midweek guest post, this one by author Victoria Helen Stone about why she set her latest thriller, "Bald-Faced Liar" in California https://kingsriverlife.com/06/18/california-dreaming-or-california-nightmare/

 

And another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Mark Stevens and how he came up with the idea for his new book "No Lie Lasts Forever" https://kingsriverlife.com/06/18/no-lie-lasts-forever/

 

Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Murder Under A Mystic Moon" by Abigail Keam https://www.krlnews.com/2025/06/murder-under-mystic-moon-by-abigail.html

 

And a review and ebook giveaway of "In$urance Blues" By Charlotte Stuart https://www.krlnews.com/2025/06/inurance-blues-by-charlotte-stuart.html

 

And a review and ebook giveaway of "Fade to Black" by Michael Amedeo https://www.krlnews.com/2025/06/fade-to-black-by-michael-amedeo.html

 

Happy reading,

Lorie 

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of June 22, 2025

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of June 22, 2025 

Beneath the Stains of Time: Nine Times Nine (1940) by Anthony Boucher

Beneath the Stains of Time: Nine Times Nine (1940) by Anthony Boucher: I previously reviewed H. Russell Wakefield's The Belt of Suspicion (1936), a not wholly uninteresting genre curiosity, but a curiosity ...

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Ornithography: An Illustrated Guide to Bird Lore and Symbolism by Jessica Roux

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Ornithography: An Illustrated Guide to Bird Lore ...:   Reviewed by Jeanne Previously, I reviewed Jessica Roux’s Floriography , which is a beautifully illustrated book about Victorian flower...

Mystery Fanfare: SUMMER SOLSTICE: Summertime Crime Fiction

Mystery Fanfare: SUMMER SOLSTICE: Summertime Crime Fiction: Today  marks the Summer Solstice! It is my favorite day of the year because it's the longest, and I love light! Today is also the firs...

SleuthSayers: GUEST POST: Creating a Cohesive Collection

SleuthSayers: GUEST POST: Creating a Cohesive Collection: My friend Judy Penz Sheluk has twice been a guest columnist here at SleuthSayers--once in 2021 and once in 2023. Today, at our regular two-y...

Scott's Take: Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age by Andy Diggle and Leandro Fernández (illustrator)

 

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age by Andy Diggle and  Leandro Fernández (illustrator) is a book that is a sequel to the original Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, which I have not read, but I did not have any trouble following this read. This was originally supposed to be a 12-issue series but instead was turned into to two six issue series. The second series will be called Gotham by Gaslight – A league For Justice.  I read this in one sitting through the DC Universe Infinite app.

 

A lot of this story is setup for the next series so questions are raised without real answers and it all ends abruptly. This elseworld tale set sometime in the 1800s has Batman investigating the Kryptonian age. A lost civilization (Krypton) on Earth that disappeared with very few clues to what happened to them. This period of time is referred to as the Kryptonian age.

 

For some reason, a mysterious group is collecting artifacts from that time and killing anyone who gets in the way. Somehow the artifacts herald the return of the Kryptonian age. That return, somehow, threatens humanity. This tale is told through multiple perspectives and that means that a significant portion of the read is without Batman.

 

There is a wide range of characters involved from Superman (yes, there is somehow a Superman in the 1800s even if the Kryptonians died thousands of years ago), Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, the Suicide Squad, Lois Lane, and others. There is constant shifting between stories. One segment might have John Constatine in England with Queen Elizabeth while another has Adam Strange in somewhere cold looking for a lost city of the Kryptonians while still another has Catwoman trying to steal a relic in a museum.

 

 

I found the story interesting even with the abrupt ending and with so much unexplained. However, the creative team being told sometime while working on it that the series was being broken up into miniseries instead of the original plan definitely played a negative role here for the reader. The art was serviceable. Some pages were way more detailed than others.

 

The sequel, hopefully, will answer these questions. The sequel, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – A League for Justice, is not a horrible title, but maybe they can workshop it and make it better.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4443PLI

 

 

I read this through DC Universe Infinite app.

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2025

Been A Rough Week

Between my health issues and car stuff it has been a hard and very expensive week. Which is why nothing has been going up here and I have not been on social media much. Been too sick and dealing with too much. 

Among other things, had to get work done on both cars and that ended up being over a grand. Near as I can tell, Trump's taxes on imports added nearly 400 bucks to the car bills.

And my health stuff gets way worse when the summer heat and humidity kick in. That happened this week when the sky hoses shut off and the furnace jets kicked on. I hate to think what my power bill is going to be in a few days. A journey outside of the house is always hard, but when the temps are in the 90s and the heat index is in the triples, it beats the heck out of me. It is a very long haul from now till late October and I don't know if I have it in me to get there.

On the positive side, all that time sitting in car places, and here in front of fans means I have several books. The reviews were written out on longhand this morning. Reviews have to be typed up and will appear here, hopefully, at least a couple, next week. Scott has a review for tomorrow and Judy Penz  Sheluk has a guest post for Sunday. 

Anyway, in case you wondered or cared, that is what is up.

Lesa's Book Critiques: Nightshade by Michael Connelly

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Nightshade by Michael Connelly

Gravetapping: Review: "Little Old Ladies" by Simon Brett

Gravetapping: Review: "Little Old Ladies" by Simon Brett:   “Little Old Ladies” by Simon Brett from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine May 2010   I’m ashamed of how few o...

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Belt of Suspicion (1936) by H. Russell Wakefield

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Belt of Suspicion (1936) by H. Russell Wakefield: H. Russell Wakefield was a British civil servant, publisher and writer best remembered today for his short story collections of supernatura...

In Reference To Murder: Media Murder for Monday 6/16/2025

 In Reference To Murder: Media Murder for Monday 6/16/2025

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Them Bones by David Housewright

 

One would think after 21 books a series could hold no surprises, but David Housewright’s latest story about Rush McKenzie, the retired police officer turned unofficial private investigator, is full of them. Them Bones (Minotaur, June 24, 2025) is all about the black market in dinosaur bones, something I didn’t know existed.

Angela Bjork, someone McKenzie met during the seventh book in the series (The Taking of Libbie, SD, Minotaur, 2010), visits St. Paul to ask for his help. Angela is working on a paleontology dig in southeastern Montana, and she discovered the rare complete skeleton of a dinosaur there. Before the site team could excavate it and transport it safely back to the University of Minnesota where the group works, the skull was stolen. There is considerable interest in owning dinosaur bones and the skull was in good enough condition to command top dollar in the black market. Angela’s academic career hinges on the work she does in the field and the research papers she produces about that work, just as the university competes for grants and other funding based on the research performed by its staff. Her entire department was desperate to recover the skull before it was taken out of the country, and she asked McKenzie if he could do anything to assist.

The entire dig knew the risks to their find, and they were all enjoined to complete secrecy. Someone talked somewhere, somehow, and that’s where McKenzie focuses his energy. The cutthroat academic environment with its backstabbing and “publish or perish” demands, as well as male professors who exploit the young female students, gets plenty of side swipes from Housewright throughout the narrative. As usual, nothing McKenzie undertakes is simple and things get complicated before the plot wraps up in a satisfying and rewarding finale.

Rushmore McKenzie, created by David Housewright, is one of my favorite fictional characters. This series is one of the few on my must-read list these days and I was not disappointed in this latest adventure. Recommended. 

·         Publisher: Minotaur Books (June 24, 2025)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎125036051X

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1250360519

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3FB1Buc

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Our Anniversary

 

40 years ago today I married my New England girl. She was and always will be my everything. Being here without her is brutally hard every day. Some days are way harder. It has not gotten any easier as the years pass. At this point, I don’t think it ever will, as it just gets harder every year. 

Lesa's Book Critiques: Mrs. Pargeter’s Plot by Simon Brett

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Mrs. Pargeter’s Plot by Simon Brett

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of June 15, 2025

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of June 15, 2025 

KRL Update 6/14/2025

As KRL continues to feature LGBTQ+ mystery authors and stories for Pride, up this week we have a review and giveaway of "How to Have a Killer Time in D.C." by Sam Lumley along with an interesting interview with Sam https://kingsriverlife.com/06/14/how-to-have-a-killer-time-in-d-c-by-sam-lumley/

And a review and giveaway of "My Father Always Finds Corpses" by Lee Hollis https://kingsriverlife.com/06/14/my-father-always-finds-corpses-by-lee-hollis/

 

And reviews and giveaways of 2 historical mysteries-"A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge" A Saffron Everleigh Mystery by Kate Khavari and "Last Dance Before Dawn" Nightingale Mysteries by Katharine Schellman (this one is an LGBTQ+ historical mystery) https://kingsriverlife.com/06/14/june-historical-mysteries-by-kate-khavari-katharine-schellman/

 

Also up this week, Sandra Murphy shares about the tornado that hit St. Louis last month and a special fundraiser to raise money for St. Louis Tornado Relief-use the links in the article to purchase some great books and help out at the same time https://kingsriverlife.com/06/14/the-st-louis-tornado-may-16-2025/

 

For those who prefer to listen to Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast directly on KRL, here is the player for our latest episode that features the first chapter of "The Language of Bodies" by Suzanne DeWitt Hall read by local actor Cady Mejias https://kingsriverlife.com/06/14/new-mysteryrats-maze-podcast-featuring/

 

Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we posted another special midweek guest post, this one from mystery author Joe Cosentino about the audiobook release of his book "The Player's Encore" https://www.krlnews.com/2025/06/release-of-audiobook-of-players-encore.html

 

And a review and ebook giveaway of "Put Another Crime in the Jukebox" by Misty Simon https://www.krlnews.com/2025/06/put-another-crime-in-jukebox-by-misty.html

 

And a review and giveaway of "The Ghostwriter" by Julie Clark https://www.krlnews.com/2025/06/the-ghostwriter-by-julie-clark.html

 

And a review and giveaway of "Burned Bridges" by John Gilstrap https://www.krlnews.com/2025/06/burned-bridges-by-john-gilstrap.html

 

Happy reading,

Lorie 

Scott's Take: Batman: Dark Age by Mark Russell, Michael Allred (Artist), Laura Allred (Colorist)

 

Batman: Dark Age by Mark Russell, Michael Allred (Artist), Laura Allred (Colorist) are the same creative team that worked on Superman: Space Age. I read this through the DC Universe Infinite app.

 

This is not set on the same earth as Superman: Space Age, but a parallel one in the same multiverse that features the same Pariah.  Some character designs are also similar which is a little confusing. This is a life story of Batman through sometime in the 1900s where he ages in real time. Batman tells this story at a retirement home for people with memory problems. This story covers Batman, his parents murder, serving in Vietnam, being a vigilante, and how he ultimately saved Gotham.

 

The art remains the same as Superman: Space Age. Overall, pretty good. The story is well told, but I feel like this one could have used a few more issues to flesh out. A few more pages would have helped add detail to the twist ending. I liked the Superman read more, but this is still pretty good overall. The cast is large, but a lot of characters do not make an appearance. Some that do appear are not explored much at all.

 

I also think it would have flowed better if the DC Infinite app did not take so long to put each issue up. The wait between issues made then feel more disconnected as one had to wait months between issues.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4dVNcW0

  

I read this through DC Universe Infinite app.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2025

Lesa's Book Critiques: Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman

The Hard Word: THADD TURNER'S THE HARD RIDE

 The Hard Word: THADD TURNER'S THE HARD RIDE