Lesa's Book Critiques: A Murderer’s Guide to Mardi Gras by Ellen Byron
Friday, July 24, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Death of a Busybody
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Death of a Busybody: In her 67 years, California author Elizabeth Linington (1921-1988) wrote some 82 crime fiction novels, published between 1955 and 1990, unde...
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange: The winners of the Shirley Jackson Awards for outstanding literary achievement in psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic wer...
Review: Dirty Little Town: A River City Novel by Frank Zafiro
When I recently read and reviewed Frank
Zafiro’s cozy mystery novellas (Hallmarks
of the Job, Shades
of the Job), I was reminded that I was way behind in my reading of
his police procedural River City series.
I knew I was behind. I had no idea how far behind I was. Dirty Little
Town: A River City Novel is the seventh book in the series and was
released back in November 2021.
The read opens in August 2003 and a bit after
the events in Place
of Wrath and Tears. Officer Katie Macleod has been through some
things. In the here and now, she’s getting a provisional promotion to detective
and being assigned to assist Detective Browning on his hunt for a serial
killer. No pay bump due to contract issues, and it leaves patrol shorthanded
due to ongoing staffing issues due to budget and contract issues, but it could
give the department some positive PR at a time when that is very much needed.
It also gives her a chance to shine. She’s been an officer for twelve years.
But being a detective is like starting all over again.
As is the department as a whole because
the mayor has installed a new chief of police. Chief of Police Richard Sannael
has arrived and Captain Robert Saylor is way less than impressed. It does not
help that Saylor had been the acting Police Chief after being appointed to the
position by the previous mayor.
The recent election went way different
than planned or expected, and the new mayor has been a micromanager and
problematic. This new chief selected by the mayor seems to be focused on
casting blame and making changes that will make things worse and sacrifice
loyal officers to do it. He is a political animal and maybe something worse.
These are just two of a number of
storylines at work in Dirty Little Town: A River City Novel. I
have long said that if you loved the work of Ed McBain, the tv shows Hill
Street Blues, Southland, Line of Duty, Blue Lights,
and other authors and shows, you will love this series. These books detail
police work and the men and women who do the job. It showcases them off shift just
as much and how their jobs affect their personal lives.
This series has evolving and ageing
characters, like any really good series, and that always results in good
reading. Such is the case here. As always with any good series, start at the
beginning and work your way forward. In this case begin with Under a Raging Moon.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4b80yye
According to Amazon, I picked this up
back in November 2021. I suspect it was by funds in my Amazon Associate account,
but I do not know that for sure.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Thursday, July 23, 2026
Jerry's House of Everything: SUSPENSE: THE BLACK CURTAIN (NOVEMBER 30, 1944)
Jerry's House of Everything: SUSPENSE: THE BLACK CURTAIN (NOVEMBER 30, 1944): Cornell Woolrich's classic 1941 mystery novel of a man who wakes up with three year's of amnesia, finding himself accused for a crim...
Thursday Treats: 7/23/2026
Some reading opportunities of interest this week.
SMFS
list member Mia Dalia announced that her short story, B Minor, was published
online at The Sunlight Press. You can read it for free here.
SMFS
list member James Patrick Focarile
announced that his short story, What Whiskey Won’t Cure, was published online
at The Saturday Evening Post. You can read it for free here.
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Black
Cat Weekly #255 is out and includes short stories by SMFS
list members N. M. Cedeño (Mirror Life
Meltdown), Stacy Woodson (She Loves You), and others. You can pick up the
latest issue here.
SMFS
list member James
W. Ziskin announced that his latest novel, The
Prank, comes out on the 28th. “Set in Christmas 1968, a
thirteen-year-old sociopath befriends his teacher, unaware she loved the man
his prank accidentally killed.” Published by Level
Best-Historia, the read is available in both digital
and print formats at Amazon and other
vendors.
Coming early next month. and edited by SMFS list members, Editors Gigi Pandian and Tom Mead, All the Crime in the World: Locked Room Mysteries and Impossible Puzzles. According to the synopsis, the anthology will feature 14 short stories by Victor Bonini, James Scott Byrnside, Shelly Dickson Carr, S.A. Cosby, Anne van Doorn, Martin Edwards, Sulari Gentill, Paul Halter, Christopher Huang, Vaseem Khan, Josh Pachter (The Allegory of the Five Senses), Masaya Yamaguchi, Ovidia Yu, and a brand-new collaboration from the editors. It is currently available for preorder at the publisher, Crippen and Landru.
And,
finally, for something completely different, the fantasy novel, Immortalized
Memories of the Omniverse: Rise of the Draconic Hero, by Alex Rosen is now out. Epic Fantasy and more are present
in this read. I am reading more than one book right now, always a dangerous
practice on my part, and this is one of them. I am not one for fantasy these
days, but I am enjoying it. Sent to me by the publisher, you can get it at Amazon or many other vendors.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday: It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news: THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES Dylan Dougl...
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: ICU
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: ICU: "ICU" by Edward Lee (first published in 999: New Tales of Horror and Suspense , edited by Al Sarrantonio, 1999; reprinted in Th...
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "Kill Now—Pay Later" by Rex Stout
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "Kill Now—Pay Later" by R...: I read "Kill Now—Pay Later" in June, I think. Or it may have been early July. I have been having trouble reading short stories l...
Short Story Wednesday Review: The Last Laugh by Robert Jakues (Thriller Magazine: June 2026)
The police procedural short story, The
Last Laugh, by Robert Jakues appears in the Thriller Magazine: June 2026
issue and it is a very good tale. The story opens with Detective opens with Detective
Pilsudski being awakened by Sergeant Jack Couch calling him at home long before
dawn. Pilsudski is the weekend on call Homicide Detective in South Central Los
Angeles. There is a body and he is needed. Before long he meets his partner
Detective Jim Hampton at their 77th street station house. Together, they head to
the scene.
It is mid-winter and the chilly night air
off the Pacific certainly isn’t warming anything or anyone on the deserted
streets.
The dead man is sprawled out on the
sidewalk mid-block on Dalton Avenue. He’s been shot in the back of the head. When
the body is rolled on its side by the coroner investigator, he found an open
black wallet. Inside, the driver’s license identifies the dead man as Gaylord Pettis.
Now it is up to Detective Pilsudski and Hampton to determine who killed Mr.
Gaylord Pettis and why in this very good short story by Robert Jakues.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4futRwr
My digital reading copy came by way of
my ninety-day free Kindle Unlimited trial.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
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