Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, & technology book reviews, plus social, political, & economic commentary
Rod Davis’s New Addition to his ‘Jack Prine’ Private Investigator Series Offers Plenty of Action, Gunplay, and Southern Geography Labels can be attached to this new novel, the second book in Rod Davis’s “Jack Prine” private investigator series. For example, you might call it “Southern noir” or perhaps “grit lit.” Whatever. I call it “good … Continue reading East of Texas, West of Hell
“The Book Artist,” the eighth book in Mark Pryor’s Hugo Marston mystery series, is entertaining, absorbing–and paced a bit slower than some detective/police procedurals. That’s because it offers readers a nice mixture of Paris atmosphere and American diplomats and others living, working and partying in Paris. The novel’s law-enforcement angles also require some slower pacing. … Continue reading ‘The Book Artist’ is Mark Pryor’s eighth Hugo Marston mystery – #bookreview
The Heavens May Fall Allen Eskens Seventh Street Books, paperback, Kindle In his third novel, The Heavens May Fall, Allen Eskens has created an engrossing tale built around two Minneapolis police investigations and a high-profile murder trial. In this book, fans of Eskens’s writing will be pleased to see that he has brought along three characters … Continue reading ‘The Heavens May Fall’ – A Minneapolis mystery-thriller – #bookreview
See Also Deception Larry D. Sweazy Seventh Street Books As I have mentioned here before, I love mystery stories where the investigator is an ordinary citizen, not a well-trained police detective or a struggling private sleuth beaten down by drunkenness, personal demons, and too many bad cases. The investigator in See Also Deception, the second novel … Continue reading ‘See Also Deception’: A good addition to the Marjorie Trumaine mystery series #bookreview
Woman with a Blue Pencil Gordon McAlpine Seventh Street Books – paperback, Kindle What if the characters in a mystery novel are alive in some other universe, and their world keeps changing, because their book, unknown to them, is being edited and rewritten? And what if one of those characters is … Continue reading ‘Woman with a Blue Pencil’ – Characters in a mystery novel that is being rewritten find themselves in conflict in a world that keeps changing – #bookreview
The Secret Life of Anna Blanc Jennifer Kincheloe Seventh Street Books – paperback, Kindle This feisty debut novel makes the case that it’s tough to be a female detective…especially in 1907. The Secret Life of Anna Blanc is a clever blending of mystery, murder, and social commentary, along with elements of a comedy of … Continue reading ‘The Secret Life of Anna Blanc’ – This debut murder mystery has everything from comedy to horror – #bookreview
Wrath of the Furies A Novel of the Ancient World Steven Saylor Minotaur Books – hardback, Kindle As a young student, I deliberately avoided the ancient world—all of those armless and headless statues, magnificent carved-stone structures collapsed into rubble, “wonders of the world,” and gods and goddesses who allegedly had both magical powers and … Continue reading WRATH OF THE FURIES: Roman detective Gordianus the Finder tries to go undercover amid angry Greeks bearing arms – #bookreview
The Survivors A Cal Henderson Novel Robert Palmer Seventh Street Books – paperback, Kindle What a swamp a single lie can lead to. Washington, D.C., psychologist Cal Henderson thinks this to himself while he is trying, years later, to sort out the real reasons behind why his two young brothers and father were … Continue reading The Survivors: A complex mystery unfolds in this good series-debut novel – #fiction #bookreview
Idyll Threats Stephanie Gayle Seventh Street Books – paperback, Kindle Recent and seemingly rapid changes in American society may make some potential readers of this book wonder why it is a big deal that a police chief would try to hide being gay. However, America was a much different world in 1997, when this … Continue reading Idyll Threats: In 1997, a small-town police chief must solve a murder that can expose his deepest secret – #bookreview
Hollow Man Mark Pryor Seventh Street Books – paperback, Kindle By day, Dominic is a tough prosecutor working in a Texas district attorney’s office. That means he can carry a badge and a gun when he’s not in court getting convictions. By night, he is guitar player and singer with a British accent who … Continue reading ‘Hollow Man’: Mark Pryor’s new psychological thriller exposes our inner sociopath – #fiction #bookreview
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