Nope, just nope. The Unworthy tries to be great literature within a torture porn plot. It implies that even in a newly created society, humans are, and will always be, inherently cruel to one another to advance their own agenda. The problem is that the torture is the entire plot.Continue Reading
How to Solve True Crime contains a series of true crime stories. They illustrate how detectives have used Occum’s razor, both successfully and not so successfully, to solve their cases. Occum’s razor is a scientific theory that encourages looking at the simplest solution first. It doesn’t prohibit expanding the investigation’sContinue Reading
Unfortunately, you can only be surprised by the plot of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None once. For those, like me, who long for a similar plot, there is the new locked room mystery, You Are Fatally Invited. Six authors, all with secrets to hide, are stuck on anContinue Reading
Three students go to a strange and seemingly never-ending night school in the new horror graphic novel, Shadowplay: Midnight School. At first, this book seems like a fevered nightmare. The main protagonist is a music student plagued by relentless self doubt. The school is full of shadowy villains, quick toContinue Reading
A New Orleans detective decides to take the law into her own hands, but someone else beats her to it in We Don’t Talk About Emma. I look forward to the unusual plots of J.D. Barker’s horror books. However, my favorite genre is mystery. When I saw Mr. Barker branchingContinue Reading
Calla has terrible nightmares that she must save her younger brothers from a bloody end. Dre is two years younger but seems to have his ducks in a row. Jamie, who is only sixteen, is busy trying to fight, or charm, his way out of every self imposed bad situation.Continue Reading
Dead Money a twisty and challenging mystery perfect for all you armchair detectives out there! Mackenzie is a fixer for rich tech bros. When one bro is murdered, he leaves his money tied up within his estate, possibly for years. Mackenzie works for a venture capitalist firm highly invested inContinue Reading
Here Beside the Rising Tide is an unusual book. It begins as the story of a steamy romance writer’s own divorce. It adds a bit of romance and a whole lot of fantasy. Not sexual fantasy…but Pokémon fantasy? What if renamed Pokémon characters were recruited to fight off a realContinue Reading
After reading literally tens of thousands mysteries throughout my life, I kept seeing the same recycled plots reused over and over again. I despaired of ever being truly surprised by a mystery again. Until I read Strange Pictures. This book is a mystery that slowly comes together piece-by-puzzling piece. EachContinue Reading
Hazel & Fox have marriage problems soon after the birth of their baby girl. Fox is concerned that their hobby might risk their family. But Hazel is bored without the constant thrills of murdering men “who really deserve it”. Thus starts the new thriller, A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage.Continue Reading
First of all, I love reality television. And I love a good parody. I thought The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey would be like Unreal, a parody of The Bachelor type shows, but about the catty the real housewives shows instead. This book was attempting that feat but, unfortunately,Continue Reading
RuriDragon, Vol. 1 is a coming-of-age manga that throws an interesting spin onto female adolescence. Aoki wakes up with horns growing out of her head. Her mother nonchalantly mentions that Aoki’s father is a Ryu, or Japanese water dragon, so that explains it. Her girlfriends can’t stop groping them. TheContinue Reading
All the Water in the World is an allegory about what happens after climate change has flooded New York City and broken down civilization as we know it. It also is a coming-of-age tale for Nonie, the teenage female protagonist. I think it may have just been me but thisContinue Reading
Invisible Helix is the latest translation of a Detective Galileo mystery. Unfortunately, I feel that this book is the worst book in the series so far. Yawn! I’m not sure if it is the translation or just too many Japanese cultural references but I found this novel to be aContinue Reading
Perfect Storm is the sixth book in the Alaska Wild series. It has two mysteries. Who is killing the off-gridders living near the abandoned Blue Mine? Could it be Bigfoot, or just a man masquerading as a Sasquatch? Will Beth survive the upcoming winter now that she is being stalkedContinue Reading
Bootleggers, mobsters and snow, oh my! Trouble Island is an atmospheric historical mystery based on a true story set on an isolated island in Lake Erie. Aurelia is a maid to a gangster’s wife, Rosita. Rosita is mourning the death of her son. Aurelia has secrets of her own. SheContinue Reading