A young pop star is kidnapped in the middle of her concert in the latest fast-paced Kendra Michaels thriller, Blink of an Eye. The star, Delilah, has a rabid fan base. Did one of them take their stalking up a notch? Or are the kidnappers hoping to make a majorContinue Reading
Russell Shorto, the author, is not to be confused with his grandfather, Russell Shorto, the Smalltime Mafioso who was the No. 2 man in the small steel mill town of Johnstown between 1946 through 1960. This is the elder Shorto’s story. But more interesting, it is also the story ofContinue Reading
In The Children God Forgot, women are having severely deformed babies. Crews working on cleaning London’s Victorian-era sewers see ghostly children who have murderous intent. People are killing each other in deranged rages. What is going on? More importantly, how can we stop it? Remember the pure and scary earlyContinue Reading
Poor Finley! Her latest romantic suspense novel is due to her publisher next month and she doesn’t even have an outline yet. Her husband left her for their real estate agent. Now he is trying to take full physical custody of their two children. And Finley is broke. Dead broke.Continue Reading
Guilt at the Garage is not going to win an Edgar but it is an enjoyable book to read on a cold Winter afternoon. Old friends Carole and Jude decide to walk home from their favorite pub leaving Carole’s car parked in town. When Carole returns the next morning, sheContinue Reading
The Paradise Affair is filled with lush descriptions of Hawaii in 1898. In fact, it feels like you are reading a travel memoir from an earlier slower-paced era. There are also two mysteries to solve for the husband and wife private detective duo, Sabina and Tom Quincannon. Overall, I liked,Continue Reading
Character Interview Interview with Fish Out of Water’s Deputy Sheriff Trent Walker How long have you been a Deputy Sheriff? I became a sheriff right after I graduated from Arkansas State University. So I reckon it’s been nearly six years now. Time sure flies, don’t it? What do you think ofContinue Reading
My Review At Suzanne, Petra and Toni’s restaurant, the Cackleberry Club, everyone feels as at home as I do whenever I read one of the books in this series. In Egg Shooters, Suzanne is bringing a meal of chili and cornbread to her fiancé Dr. Sam at the hospital. Suddenly,Continue Reading
Author Guest Post Chocolate, Community Coffee and Involuntary Autobiographical Memory If you’ve met me for five minutes, you probably know I’m really into coffee. I have an espresso machine at my house, and the first thing I do when I travel (pre COVID, and hopefully again someday soon!) is toContinue Reading
Climate change is happening, whether you believe in it or not. Stay ahead of the curve by reading this excellent and informative guide on How to Prepare for Climate Change. The book begins with a compelling argument shown in a single graph that global warming is occurring in lock stepContinue Reading
Famous penultimate words, “They can’t charge me for something I didn’t do.” Famous last words, “Your police force is a joke. They think I murdered Adele.” —from One Poison Pie Mia is starting a food business providing catering, a meal delivery service, and a chef training program. Her first jobContinue Reading
Join elementary-age Nico and Annie as they travel back in time to The Great Pyramid. What secrets will be revealed in this colorful children’s book? The first revelation is that The Great Pyramid is the last remaining Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The second is that Napoleon might haveContinue Reading
“My name is Frankie Elkin and finding missing people is what I do. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never bothered to care, I start looking.“—from Before She Disappeared Frankie has been searching for missing people for ten years. TheContinue Reading
My Review What mystery fan wouldn’t want to go on a Mystery Lovers Tour around England? Though you may have to rethink that decision when the tour owner is found dead. It really is A Tourist’s Guide to Murder but in a completely unexpected way. Sam runs a mystery bookshopContinue Reading
The Crown in Crisis is a well-researched and detailed study of the abdication of British King Edward VIII on the brink of World War II. However, non-Anglophiles may find all the characters and what their jobs entail rather confusing. Though I can envision future university students citing this book inContinue Reading
Patricia Highsmith was by all accounts a horrible person, who was beset with Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires. Patricia was a drunk racist anti-Semite. She drank from morning to night. She stated that “black men become physically ill if they did not have sex many times a month” and wereContinue Reading