A Legacy of Murder Character Interview
A Legacy of Murder: A Kate Hamilton Mystery by Connie Berry Interview with Kate, lead character in A Legacy of Murder Hi Kate. After stumbling across two bodies in less than a month, are you concerned about the same occurring on your next antiquing expedition? Have you been talking toContinue Reading
Notre-Dame
The burning and partial destruction of Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral in April 2019 was shown on television worldwide. People everywhere were grief-stricken and shocked that such a monument to mankind’s ingenuity and perseverance could fall. But it impacted Ken Follett, best-selling author of The Pillars of the Earth, even more. AfterContinue Reading
Neuroscience of Selling
The title of the Neuroscience of Selling is rather misleading because no specific scientific studies are mentioned in the book or end notes. In fact, this book is based on other pop culture books and articles about selling. The introduction had me thinking there were new ideas here. But, nope,Continue Reading
Apple Cider Slaying
Apple Cider Slaying (A Cider Shop Mystery) by Julie Anne Lindsey My Review Set in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia, Apple Cider Slaying is the first book in the Cider Shop Mystery series. And it’s a great start! Winnie and her Granny Smythe areContinue Reading
The Hard Times
You don’t have to be a punk to enjoy The Hard Times—but it helps. Why is it funny that The Ramones forced their studio’s janitor to change his name to Gary Ramone? Because none of The Ramones were related in real life and all changed their name to enter theContinue Reading
Sushi Modoki
Sushi Modoki means mimicked sushi. This cookbook shows vegans and vegetarians how to create beautiful replicas of famous sushi while not compromising their ethical values. The book includes seventeen nigiri (thin fish over rice), nine sushi rolls, four chirashi (rice/veggie bowls), four inari (stuffed deep-fried tofu pockets), four oshi (rectangularContinue Reading
Best of Greg Egan
An interesting collection of twenty hard science-fiction tales selected by the author is located in the Best of Greg Egan. The longish stories deal with what it means to be human and how technology is going to change both us and our outside environment. They were originally created between 1990Continue Reading
Murder Can Mess Up Your Masterpiece
In Murder Can Mess Up Your Masterpiece, Celeste Cabot, with her Chihuahua Van Gogh, is embarking on a new life as a freelance artist. Living in her tiny bright pink trailer, Celeste has good sales at her first craft fair until she finds the organizer murdered and she is theContinue Reading
Animals Reviewed
When would you need Animals Reviewed? Before you hire two skunks as house protection, read the included 2-star review suggesting guard rabbits instead. If you need a CrossFit instructor, you could do worse than the 5-star rhinoceros described here. Animals Reviewed is a perfect zoo or aquarium gift shop purchase.Continue Reading
Shamus Dust
Raymond Chandler has been reincarnated in the expressive prose of Shamus Dust. On Christmas Day, a man is found dead on the porch of a church in post-WWII City of London. By all accounts, the victim, Raymond Jarrett, was up to no good. Pictures of young boys in compromising positionsContinue Reading
Stop Being Reasonable
Society expects that people will use logic and reason to sway others to change their mind. However, Stop Being Reasonable argues that reason doesn’t work, which is why the country is so divided. Using several true stories, the author anecdotally tries to prove what changes minds. The stories encompass catcalling,Continue Reading
Big Book of Reel Murders
The Big Book of Reel Murders is chockful of well-known authors like Dashiell Hammett, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming, and W. Somerset Maugham. Even better, it has some of my favorite silver-age short story writers from 1950-1989 Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen mystery magazines like Cornell Woolrich and Stanley Ellin.Continue Reading
Serf and Turf
Serf and Turf: A Silicon Valley Mystery by Marc Jedel Author Interview How did you get started writing cozy mysteries? I’ve wanted to write a book forever. For the longest time, it seemed I couldn’t come up with a good plot. Unfortunately for my prospective writing career, I had learnedContinue Reading
Beware the East Wind Guest Post
Beware the East Wind (The Mah Jongg Mysteries) by Barbara Barrett Author Guest Post The Mysteries of Mah Jongg I decided to use the game of Mah Jongg as the focus of my first mystery series for two reasons. First, it was a subject with which I had some familiarityContinue Reading
Poison Garden
It’s the day before her one-year wedding anniversary and Elise has a problem in the new gaslight-esque thriller, Poison Garden. When Elise arrives home one day early from a trip, she finds her husband, Kieran, in their marital bed with another woman. He swears it was a one-time fling, butContinue Reading
Of Vengeance
“It takes a stroke of luck to find your vocation. I might have spent my whole life searching. Hare Krishna? Hairdressing? Water polo? But the universe blessed me with a taste of the perfect crime.”—from Of Vengeance. Welcome to the mind of an unnamed sociopath, who is also a thirteen-year-oldContinue Reading