High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news.
It is the middle of May 2018 as The Lantern Men: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths begins and a lot has changed in recent months. Kate is now nine. Dr. Ruth Galloway now teaches at Cambridge and lives with Frank. She is no longer the North Norfolk police’s resident forensic archeologist and is […]
Brian Holloway came out to the house on Shell Island to crack a safe. It is his job and one he has been doing for quite awhile. The owner, a Mr. Robinette, is rather difficult from the start and is clearly more trouble than he is worth and he is obviously worth a lot of […]
Never Look Back In Texas by Russ Hall begins innocently enough with Al Quinn long since retired being asked by Sheriff Clayton to do a little mentoring. He has the experience and despite the grumbling, is ready to help out. He just was not ready to see on his way home hours later, Fergie in […]
Tracing your ancestry is all the rage the last few years and a lot of folks are doing it by way of various genetic testing sites. Many people are totally unaware that once you send off your genetic material, the company that receives your genetic materially can legally do pretty much do anything they want […]
Frozen: A Vera Stanhope Short Story by Ann Cleeves begins with Vera having the day off and wanting to get out and about. After getting some fresh air and seeing the sights, Vera decides to go to the small town of Corbridge for some tea and cakes. She has some and then goes across the […]
It has been a few months since U.S. Marshall Lucas Davenport was shot. September is half gone and he knows he still doesn’t look right no matter what the others say. Working out helps, but he isn’t back physically or emotionally, and he knows it. He also can’t spend much time worrying about where he […]
It is late June 1898 as Sooner Than Gold by J.R. Lindermuth begins. Hiram Mariner is the local doctor and he has come to fetch Sheriff Sylvester Tilghman in his newfangled horseless carriage as they both are wanted down at a mine just outside of town. Nathan Zimmerman, owner of the mine just outside of […]
A coyote found the body first as it lay at the base of a pagoda in Thailand Plaza. Driven by the fires that had consumed Griffith Park moving her natural food sources away, the scrawny coyote took off a chunk of thigh before the flashing lights and sirens of the first officers to arrive […]
She was lucky to have escaped with her life when the intruders came for her that cold and snowy night. She had been ready and had a plan, but as often happens with plans, things went sideways from the point her door crashed inward. She fled into the night and by sheer luck survived and […]
Ice Hunter: A Woods Cop Mystery by Joseph Heywood begins a series built around Grady Service. A former marine who served in Vietnam, these days he is a conservation officer working in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Specifically, an area known as the “Mosquito Tract” that his father also patrolled before he was killed. Like his father […]
Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch is in Florida due to a background check on a new hire and a little more when he gets a phone call from Ora Stevens. She is very concerned as her husband, Charles Stevens, has not been in contact with her for over 41 hours. The legendary Game Warden is […]
Humans and there ever advancing technology have always had an impact on the West. Often in unintended ways with major consequences. One of those who has noted those changes have been Author C. J. Box. He has done so in a variety of series, especially those that feature Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. The same […]
It has been a little over two years since the events in Charlie-316 happened as Never The Crime: A Charlie-316 Novel begins. Spokane Police Officer Gary Stone works on the seventh floor of city hall in a job that easily could be more dangerous to his long-term survival than being on a high-risk weapons team […]
Throwing Off Sparks: A Riley Reeves Mystery by Michael Pool is the first book in what promises to be a highly entertaining series. There are numerous references to an earlier case which was the focus of the story, “Weathering The Storm,” in The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes From The Panhandle To The Piney Woods […]
The Case of the Nameless Diablo, Cowboy Crooner: A Nameless, Texas Mystery introducing Rory Rogers, P. I. by Bobbi A. Chukran has a lot going on in this short story that is also a very good cozy style read. Aurora “Rory” Rogers is in her 50s, widowed, and is the only private investigator for miles […]
The Imposter: A Mike Bowditch Short Mystery is set many years ago when Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch was new to Down East Maine. In those early days, he had a bit of a reputation and his new boss is less than friendly. As the short story opens, Bowditch is on the dock at Roque […]
Sordid: Five Crime Stories by Harry Hunsicker is a collection of five previously published tales. As made clear early on, these are “Five Crime Stories about Amputee Strippers, Drifters, Meth Heads, and Other Lost Souls.” The read is exactly as advertised. This is not a cozy style read. This is graphic, often violent, and is […]
Hoosier Noir: One is a crime fiction magazine aimed at Indiana. Published by First City Books, the read came on the market in recent weeks and looked interesting, so I picked up a copy. Available in print and eBook versions, I went with the digital file and bought this by way of funds in my […]
Imagine, if you will, the possibility of crossing from this plane of existence into another one built on a role playing game. Where the decisions you made in setting up your character and your abilities, as well as ones made by all of the players in your group, could have life and death consequences within […]
Less Than a Moment: A Posadas County Mystery by Steven F. Havill is the latest installment in a series that began long ago with Heartshot. This is a series where characters age, relationships evolve over time, and always present is the stark beauty of Posadas County, New Mexico. That aspect, a distinct and deep appreciation […]
Scuffletown: A Willie Black Mystery by Howard Owen is the seventh book in The Willie Black Mystery Series that began with Oregon Hill. For readers new to this series, this is a series that is best read in order as the characters age, relationships change, and much like in the real world, the past is […]
Mystery Weekly Magazine: November 2019 is a six-course smorgasbord of mystery dishes along with a couple of detectable appetizers. As always, this is a magazine that embraces a wide range of mystery readers and this issue is no exception. The issue opens with “Giving Up The Ghost” by Shea E. Butler. Belle Lopez was a […]
Among the Shadows: A Detective Bryon Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin is the first book in a police procedural series. Set in Portland, Maine, and the surrounding area, it features Detective Sergeant John Bryon and his team of detectives. Internal politics and rivalries play a role in this complicated police procedural where former officers are […]
When the world seems to be on fire every day and the new normal of society is borderline chaos, Nick Kolakowski’s new book, Maxine Unleashes Doomsday has a lot of relevance to the here and now. He builds on that and extrapolates into a near future that is all too plausible. Part crime fiction, part […]
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Eve Ronin did not make working homicide by putting her years in and working her way up the ranks. She did it the old fashioned way by taking advantage of her sudden celebrity status. That happened at a very good time for her as the Sheriff needed to exploit […]
Dark Yonder: Tales and Tabs is billed as an anthology of crime stories. It certainly is and there is not a bad tale on the book. The read is far more than a crime anthology of often powerful short stories. It is a book that pays homage to what is clearly a loved bar by […]
It is April 2016 as The Devil’s Triangle: A Willie Black Mystery begins. A local bar that was a watering hole for Willie Black and many others was destroyed that Friday afternoon when a small plane crashed into it. The loss of life is many and that includes several folks from Kate’s old law firm […]
Purgatory Bay by Bryan Gruley continues what began in Bleak Harbor. While not a straight sequel to the prior book, it features the local area and some of the same characters. There are also numerous references, some far more detailed than others, to the prior book and those events. For that reason, those who have […]
At Their Own Game: A SpoCompton Crime Novel by Frank Zafiro revolves around former police officer Jacob Stankovic. He runs a small criminal enterprise using Matt for short range stuff and Brent for long haul gigs. Though he is now on the other side from his former fellow officers of the law, he has worked […]
Robert B. Parker’s Angel Eyes: A Spenser Novel by Ace Atkins takes readers to sunny California where things are decidedly not sunny in so many ways. Not only is the weather often cold and rainy, the trail has gone very cold. 24 years ago old Gabrielle Leggett is a part time actress and full time […]
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