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My Favorite Crime/Mystery/Detective/Thriller Fiction of 2021

By

On January 10, 2022

In DC Maggie Jamieson, Lee Goldberg, M. W. Craven, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Nick Kolakowski, Noelle Holten, The Stonebridge Mysteries

Finally, we’re at the end of my 2021 wrap-up, it feels like I’ve been at this for a month. I really need to get faster at this.
2021 Favorite Crime Fiction
38% of what I read last year falls into the category of “Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller,” so I have to consider it apart from everything else when I put together my Best-Of Lists, or just about everything else would get ignored. Even if I went with a Top 15-20 instead of a Favorite 10, maybe 2-3 books from the previous lists would’ve made it along with all of these (and a couple that just missed this list).

Once again, I’ll note that I limit my lists to things I read for the first time. I’d be willing to guarantee anyone reading this page will enjoy at least 6 of these (which six will vary from reader to reader, however). I’m tempted to say that all the listed books are guaranteed for everyone, but people’s tastes are too varied, so I’ll hedge my bet. Try these, and you’ll be glad you did.

(in alphabetical order by author)

Born in a Burial GownBorn in a Burial Gown

by M. W. Craven

My original post
Should I just start calling this list An M. W. Craven Novel and 9 Others I Loved Last Year? This just narrowly beat out the latest Poe/Tilly for this spot. This novel introduces a very damaged detective trying to prove that he deserves to be where he is (and his team does, too). DI Fluke is a great character—well, they all are. The prose just sings, the novel’s well-paced and cleverly put together. The killer, the motive, the victim, the reveals (both in the way they were handled and what was revealed), the fairly satisfying (by design) ending, the sweet and then very satisfying denouement—and anything else I didn’t mention—it’s all just as good as you could hope for.

5 Stars

Gated PreyGated Prey

by Lee Goldberg

My original post
It was only after I narrowed down this list that I realized that Eve Ronin showed up on last year’s list, too. I clearly have a thing for this series. Eve is still learning how to be a detective while making headlines by being involved in high-profile cases. This book mixes observations about celebrity culture, a couple of great mysteries, continued problems in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and Eve (once again) failing to balance work and life (or at least work and health). Rookie detectives aren’t the typical focus of a series, but really should be (at least if this series is any indication)

4 1/2 Stars

The AppealThe Appeal

by Janice Hallett

My original post
The reader is on the same level with the characters who are trying to solve things in this epistolary mystery—we get to read the evidence at the same time as the trainee lawyers that we focus on do. That alone makes this an inventive read. Then Hallett adds in a fantastic cast of characters involved in a small town’s local community theater and a crowd-funding effort for a small child’s cancer treatment. You start out knowing something criminal happened, and gradually start to figure out what the crime was and how it involves those characters. It’s a truly inventive way to tell this kind of story and a great story. It’s the kind of book that’s easy to overhype as you talk about it, so I’m shutting up now.

5 Stars

August SnowAugust Snow

by Stephen Mack Jones

My original post
Readers here know that one of my greatest weaknesses is a good P.I. novel, and “discovering” August Snow was just a treat for me. There’s something about this book—one of those ineffable things that just sang to me—that reminded me of the first time I read a Dennis Lehane Kenzie and Gennaro book, or Joe Ide’s I.Q., or Crais’ Elvis Cole. There’s something just so right—so absolutely classic P.I. and incredibly fresh about the voice—that I felt at home.

From an atypical beginning with the prospective client that ends up without anyone being hired, through the morass of financial crimes and murder, to the explosive ending—with the increasing sense of dread and apprehension of an ensuring emotional gut-punch—August Snow is a fantastic series debut, that would be an equally fantastic tenth novel in a series. It’s fantastic, period.

5 Stars

Love & Bullets: Megabomb EditionLove & Bullets: Megabomb Edition

by Nick Kolakowski

My original post
This is technically a violation of my “only new to me” books, Kolakowski took his three Love and Bullets novellas and added a little new material to turn them into a novel. I found the experience different enough reading them as a novel, that I’m going with it. It’s just a blast to read. I had fun with every novel on this list, but for sheer entertainment value, I think this one tops the rest.

Love & Bullets is a fast-moving thrill ride. It’s funny. It has occasional moments of sweetness (very transient). The story and characters are visceral—you can see the action, you can practically hear Bill’s quips and feel Fiona’s patience evaporating at them (while she does love him for them). It will get a much-beloved (or much-disparaged) band’s music stuck in your head during one fight scene. Really, it covers almost all the senses—and given where they spend a lot of time, you’ll be glad it leaves the other two out.

4 1/2 Stars

The Jigsaw ManThe Jigsaw Man

by Nadine Matheson

My original post
DI Anjelica Henley is your typical detective so focused on the job that everything else in their life is a tertiary concern at best, she makes horrible choices in her personal life, and seems to make enemies wherever she goes. One such enemy is a serial killer she put away some time ago, but then new bodies start showing up that look like the work of that killer. Did she put the wrong man away? Is this a copycat? Or something worse? The Jigsaw Man is a dark, unsettling read—there are two pages toward the end that may be the most disturbing pages I’ve ever read. And yet…there’s something very appealing about the novel—it’s gripping and compelling, it’s also entertaining. The pacing was perfect. The characters were well-drawn and felt fresh. It’s the kind of book that makes you ignore responsibilities–and possibly food and hygiene–or at least want to until you finish.

5 Stars

The Curious Dispatch of Daniel CostelloThe Curious Dispatch of Daniel Costello

by Chris McDonald

My original post
(really this spot belongs to all Series: The Stonebridge Mysteries, but we’ll use this as a synecdoche (or did I mean metonym? I’m can’t remember)). I’ve been calling this a Cozy for People Who Don’t Like Cozies. It’s about a pair of guys in their twenties, trying to figure out their lives. They’ve spent too much time watching Sherlock and the like, and when one of them discovers a dead body at a wedding they’re attending, they take it upon themselves to solve the murder. Which leads to them doing that again in a few months—and again, and again. They really don’t have any business doing this kind of thing, but it turns out that they have a knack for it. This novella (and those that follow) is a quick burst of fun—a witty whodunit with a couple of unlikely amateurs on the case.

4 Stars

Suburban DicksSuburban Dicks

by Fabian Nicieza

My original post
A disgraced journalist struggling to find some sort of professional redemption (not to mention a better paycheck) and a pregnant mother of four (who gave up her lifelong dream of being an FBI profiler to raise a family) pair up to investigate their suburb’s first murder in decades because the police department just isn’t up for it (assuming they’re not too crooked to do the job right). You get a great mix of dark comedy, social commentary, and clever mystery as the pair unearth secrets that have been buried for generations on their way to solve the murder of a gas station attendant. From the great opening scene to the fantastic last line (probably the best I read last year), and all points between, this was easily one of my top reads of the year.

5 Stars

Dead SecretDead Secret

by Noelle Holten

My original post
Like Eve Ronin (above), DC Maggie Jamieson, is driving herself to exhaustion. She’s just that driven. This book features Maggie and the rest of the team on the hunt for a killer and trying to find (hopefully in time) their missing DCI, which means no downtime for Maggie or anyone else. You’ve got a pretty grizzly beating death to start off with and then you the police’s natural inclination to focus all resources on the missing DCI. Just those two storylines would be enough. But then Holten throws in a third storyline—a person in desperate need of help, a survivor of (as far as anyone can tell) of domestic violence—a reminder that policing isn’t about arrests, it isn’t about only maintaining social order—it’s about people like this woman who showed at Lucy’s front door, it’s protecting and serving the public. This is the kind of thing that both (fictional and real) civilians and the (fictional and real) police need to be reminded of, and here it elevates the rest of the novel by its presence.

4 1/2 Stars

The Thursday Murder ClubThe Thursday Murder Club

by Richard Osman

My original post
What can I possibly say about this that hasn’t been said before? This book is just great—it’s about a group of friends in a retirement community who spend a few hours a week looking over police cold cases (one of the group is a retired police officer, and these are her files) and then a murder happens in their community. They trade in their cold cases for this very warm one right away. I can’t think of a thing about this novel I didn’t like—it was touching, amusing, honest about the circumstances that these characters found themselves in, but life-affirming, too. There’s a lot of profundity mixed in with the amusement—and a clever mystery, to boot! This is not one to pass up.

5 Stars

My Favorite Non-Crime Fiction of 2021

By

On January 7, 2022

In Alex Verus, Benedict Jacka, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Jo Perry, Mike Chen, News/Misc., Roddy Doyle, Science Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Urban Fantasy

2021 Favorite Non-Crime
Back when I started this site, I knew the content would be largely “genre”-oriented. I’d have wagered the content would be roughly 1/3 Mystery/Detective fiction, 1/3 Urban Fantasy, and slightly less than 1/3 SFF, with “non-genre” fiction, humor, and non-fiction being enough to make my one-thirds just an approximation (honestly, if you asked me what I read regularly, that’s pretty much how I’d describe it today). Actual numbers show that’s wrong—it’s almost 40% Crime/Thriller Fiction, and Urban Fantasy has only topped 20% once in the last decade—it was 16% the last two years, SFF combined for about 14% in 2021.

Which is just a long-winded way to get to these two points: because Crime Fiction takes such a big chunk of my reading, it gets its own “Favorite” list, but none of the others really garner enough numbers for their own.

As always, re-reads don’t count—only the works that were new to me.

(in alphabetical order by author)

We Could Be Heroes

by Mike Chen

My original post
A super-hero and a super-villain become friends after meeting (as civilians) at a support group meeting and delve into their shared past to figure out how they got their powers and who they used to be. That old story. 🙂 In typical Chen fashion, the SF/super-hero elements are just an excuse to tell a story about friendship, memory, and identity. It’s a story about people, who just happen to be super-powered.

4 Stars

LoveLove

by Roddy Doyle

My original post
This is about as close as you can get to a novel without a plot. You’ve got a pair of old friends, getting together for drinks (many, many drinks) and to catch up on each other’s lives. They end up revisiting their past (as you do), arguing about what really happened then, and seeing how it’s impacted where they are now. There’s more to it, but that’ll do for our purposes. The novel is primarily told through dialogue (although we do get memories and internal commentary from one of the men). As is to be expected from Doyle, that dialogue sings. You can practically hear it jump off of the page–I’m not sure I could conjure up a mental image of anyone in the book, but I know exactly what they’d sound like.

4 Stars

Tom Jones Original CoverThe History of Tom Jones, A Foundling

by Henry Fielding

My wrap-up post for the project
I read most of this in 2020, but didn’t finish it until 2021, so it goes on this list. Just for the (mostly rewarding) time spent on this book, it deserves a spot on this list. It’s not really the kind of book I thought it would be, but it’s so much more interesting. I’ve said enough about this book, I don’t really have it in me for more–it’s a classic, anyway, what can I say that hasn’t been said for hundreds of years?

5 Stars

All the Lonely PeopleAll the Lonely People

by Mike Gayle

My original post
This is nothing but an all-out attack on the cockles of your heart. I described it to a friend, “Imagine a book by Fredrick Backman–but instead of a crotchety old Swedish man, it’s about a lonely man who left Kingston for London in the 50s.” It’s so heartwarming, so Capra-esque, so…eh, you get the point.

5 Stars

Not AwkwardNot Awkward

by Matthew Hanover

My original post
Hanover’s third Wallflowers novel came out last year and shows real growth as a writer, while not losing any of the charm, heart, and likability of his previous novels. Just before his wedding, Scott goes to the funeral for his ex’s father, and somehow ends up spending a few days with the family. Not Awkward is a warm and heart-filled story about revisiting the past, finding healing (whether or not you thought you needed it), and embracing a future that doesn’t look like you expected it would (and is probably better). It’s the kind of book that’ll make you feel a little better about life for a while—and who doesn’t want to read something like that?

4 1/2 Stars

RisenRisen

by Benedict Jacka

My original post
The twelfth and final book in the Alex Verus series blew me away. It’s one of the best series finales I remember reading. It was hard to say good-bye to this world and these characters, but Jacka did such a satisfying job with this novel that it took some of the sting out of it.

5 Stars

When Sorrows ComeWhen Sorrows Come

by When Sorrows Come

by Seanan McGuire

My original post
If (and that feels like a big “if”) October Day is going to get a Happily Ever After, it’s going to be years down the road. Thankfully, she got a “Happy Right Now” by marrying Tybalt. That’s pretty much what this novel is–a big dollop of happiness (with Toby putting down a palace coup along the way). It was so nice seeing that.

5 Stars

Headphones and HeartachesHeadphones and Heartaches

by Wesley Parker

My original post
Percy’s a teen who gets put into Foster Care after his mother’s latest OD. While she’s in a treatment program, Percy comes to trust and love his foster mother–a woman with a huge heart, who takes in this boy and gives him a safe place to be for the first time in his life. This is a sweet book, a touching book—an occasionally hilarious book (with some truly cringe-worthy beats)—I guess it’s best summed up as a very human book. Parker got me to feel all sorts of things for these characters, to a degree I didn’t expect or was prepared for.

5 Stars

PurePure

by Jo Perry

My original post
(sure, you could make the case that this is Crime Fiction, but I don’t buy it) After Ascher gets quarantined in her late aunt’s retirement condo during the early days of COVID. She sneaks around volunteering for a Jewish Burial Society, and then becomes convinced that one of the women she helped with was the victim of foul play. So Ascher tries to figure out what happened and who is responsible–again, while sneaking around the retirement community’s quarantine. This is a mystery novel about something—it’s more than a whodunit (assuming there was something for a “who” to have “dun”). It, like pretty much everything Perry writes, is about death and how we deal with it as humans (and one neurotic and grieving Mini-Pinscher). THere’s more to chew on, too, but that’d be telling…

This is one that’s going to stay with me for a while.

4 Stars

In Ten YearsIn Ten Years

by Ian Shane

My original post
A contemporary When Harry Met Sally that makes me just as happy as the movie ever did. Tried and true plotlines that felt fresh thanks to Shane’s light touch and ear for dialogue. It contains what’s probably my favorite chapter of 2021–and more than a couple of my favorite lines. I wanted to race through it to see how it ended, and I wanted to slow down to savor it (the impulse control side lost–what do you expect from someone who tagged himself “Irresponsible”?).

5 Stars

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2021

By

On January 4, 2022

In Audiobook, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Humor, Kevin Hearne, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Politics/Current Affairs, Rick Riordan, Science Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye, Tufa, Urban Fantasy

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2021
Last year I kicked off my Year-End Retrospective with a look at my favorite audiobooks, I might as well repeat that this year. How do I keep this from being just a rehash of my other year-end lists? By focusing on the audiobook experience over the content. What was it like to listen to it? How engaging was it, how did the narrator do? Was it a good match in terms of tone, content, and performance? All of these books are/were good—but the audiobooks are a bit better because of the narrator and the rest of the people involved in the production.

(in alphabetical order by author)

The Hum and the ShiverThe Hum and the Shiver

by Alex Bledsoe, Emily Janice Card(Narrator), Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)

This was my third or fourth trip through this book (maybe, fifth, but I don’t think so). I’m not sure if that means it was easy for me to be impressed—or maybe it was really hard because I had high expectations. Regardless, Rudnicki and Card took me to Cloud County and the land of the Tufa. I could believe that these people lived, breathed, and walked around in this world—and yet were otherworldly, as they ought to be. I knew Rudnicki could make me believe in a Fantasy world—it turns out that he can make me believe in this one, too. Card was right there with him.

4 Stars

Finlay Donovan Is Killing ItFinlay Donovan Is Killing It

by Elle Cosimano, Angela Dawe (Narration)

My original post
This is on the list because of Dawe’s narration. The text was entertaining enough, sure, but her narration is what made sure I remembered the book during the list-making time. The novel was a tricky balancing act between the various tones and characters, and Dawe makes you believe it. She captured the comedic sense of the novel along with the tension and emotional moments. There were a few accents involved and she did a believable job with them, too.

3.5 Stars

A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim CurryA Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry

by Charles Dickens, Tim Curry (Narrator)

My original post
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: all you need to know about this is: Tim Curry. This wasn’t the performance I expected—I figured I was in for something near to over-the-top, with Curry going to town with the text. Instead, we’re treated to a respectful, restrained performance giving Dickens’ classic just the right emotional weight, sentimentality, personality, and life.

5 Stars

This Bright FutureIn This Bright Future

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
Grainger and Jackson together have made this one of my Top 3 audiobook series, period. So my only question was how many of the books would end up on this list. I ended up limiting myself to one, and therefore it had to be this one—we get so little of our typical characters and settings, but Jackson is able to make Belfast as warm and homey as King’s Lake. There are elevated dangers and emotions in this book that we don’t typically get with D.C. Smith, but Jackson doesn’t miss a beat. Grainger puts D.C. through his paces, too. Both are at the top of their game—making D.C. at the top of his, too.

4 Stars

Ink & SigilInk & Sigil

by Kevin Hearne, Luke Daniels (Narrator)

Even though a pro like Luke Daniels is constantly doing voices/accents for his characters and the narration is almost never his “natural” voice (assuming he even has one anymore), I have to think that maintaining a Glaswegian accent for as long as he did for this book (ten hours and change, I think) has to be an added level of difficulty. Not that you can tell from listening to this. I thought the novel was a rollicking good time and just the way you should introduce a new series. The audiobook version just cemented that.

4 1/2 Stars

The Unkindest TideThe Unkindest Tide

by Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal (Narrator)

This novel was the payoff (as far as we know so far, I wouldn’t put it past McGuire to turn it upside down later) to a storyline that had been lingering and building for years, I remember being stunned when reading it—just that aspect of The Unkindest Tide brought a great combination of anticipation, grief, suspense, and surprise. The story of the novel—the trip to the Duchy of Ships, the intrigue around Dianda, etc. was as solid as it gets, too. I remembered all this going in, so it was all teed up for Kowal—and she nailed it, it almost felt like I hadn’t read the book before and was discovering it fresh. A narrator who can do that is tops in my book.

4 1/2 Stars

We Had a Little Real Estate ProblemWe Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans and Comedy

by Kliph Nesteroff

My original post
As I was trimming down the list of audiobooks I listened to last year for this list, I didn’t expect that this would stay on the list. A history of Native Americans in Comedy, really? But I kept not deleting it…so I started thinking of it—there’s a social history, an entertainment history, with individual profiles mixed it—it has it all. What’s more, despite a pretty dry (but never boring) narration, and not using clips of original performances, the comedy of these individuals comes through. In the midst of hardship, suffering, prejudice, and hard breaks, there are some solid laughs. It’s hard not to keep thinking about that.

4 Stars

Percy Jackson's Greek GodsPercy Jackson’s Greek Gods

by Rick Riordan, Jesse Bernstein (Narrator)

I started working on a post last year about contemporary myth retellings (and I intend on finishing it before my unconceived grandkids are ready to read it), and listened to this as part of that. In many ways, the book and the information didn’t fare well compared to things like Gaiman and Fry have recently produced. But this is here and they’re not—because as an audiobook this is a great experience. Bernstein is Percy Jackson here, and it felt like something ol’ Percy was sitting down and relating to future Camp Halfblood residents. It inspired me to listen to the original Percy Jackson series again just so I can listen to Bernstein perform this character.

3 Stars

You'll Never Believe What Happened to LaceyYou’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism

by Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

My original post
I’m still telling people about this audiobook/book nine months later. I can’t think of a book that made me angrier, sadder, or made me laugh as much in 2021 (or a few years before it, either). This did all three. Ruffin’s narration, Lamar’s stories, their hurt, and their optimism make this a must-listen.

4 1/2 Stars

The Salvage CrewThe Salvage Crew

by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Nathan Fillion (Narrator)

My original post
This is a very strange SF story about a sentient AI (based on the memories and personality of an engineer). I think I’d have enjoyed the story had I read the novel, but it’s Nathan Fillion that brought it to life. That same charm that makes you like Caleb, Mal, Castle, and Nolan shines forth and makes you believe in this malfunctioning (at least eccentrically-functioning) AI and get invested in the AI’s survival and that of his ragtag crew.

4 Stars

The Irresponsible Reader in 2021: Thoughts, Thanks, and Stats

By

On December 31, 2021

In Calendar Items, News/Misc., Nick Kolakowski

Programming Note: Over the next few days, I’ll be looking back over 2021—but I’ll try to come up with some new material, too. Many/most others have already done their best-of/year-end wrap-up posts, but I’m a stickler—I can’t start doing this kind of thing ’til the year is over. My brain doesn’t allow me to work that way (I just hate projecting things in general—and some years ago when I just read irresponsibly, but hadn’t adopted the name, the last novel of the year was so far beyond the rest that I can’t start looking back until 12/31 at the earliest).

As we kick off 2022, as is my custom, I wanted to take a glance back at 2021 (may it soon be a distant memory). 307 books finished (plus comics, picture books, short stories, and the like that I don’t know how to count)—my mind is thoroughly boggled! I exceeded my goal (nothing like exceeding an arbitrary number to boost the ol’ ego), too; finishing around 86,000 pages; with an average rating of 3.69 Stars. I only DNF’d one book, which is nice (or could I have enjoyed myself more if I’d done more?).

On the blog front, I put up 562 posts—an all-time high for me—82 more than last year!! I had another year of strong gains in traffic—views and visitors—I’m not big-time (never going to be), but those numbers consistently weird me out (which is why I only look every 6-12 months). My follower count (here and on social media sites) is encouraging and humbling, I really feel like I ought to do more to earn them.

I didn’t have any big blog projects for the year this year—I did finish my trip through The History of Tom Jones, but the follow-ups I thought about never materialized, but may in 2022. I also want to get back to my Classic Spenser series…that one is bugging me. I’ll talk about some other plans soon—maybe, maybe I’ll just put them in place instead.

As is my habit, here’s my breakdown of books by genre (and I’m going to have to change things soon, this chart doesn’t show up well anymore, I just like showing the trends). Genre labeling continues to be more difficult as I’m reading a lot of hybrids (most of us are, they’re being produced more), but I tend to go with the overarching genre. Basically, everything’s the same, with just a percent or two of adjustment. It’s been forever since I’ve read a Western or a Horror novel—and “humor” is pretty useless as a category, as a lot of things I read could be considered that. Once again, for someone who doesn’t plan too thoroughly, the percentages stay remarkably consistent from year to year—tastes (and series I follow) apparently stay the same. I need to devote a Saturday afternoon some time to doing the math to make this chart more useful/attractive. I didn’t expect both Fantasy and Non-Fiction to dip the way they did this year—not at all surprisingly Mystery/Thriller/Crime picked up those percentage points, though.

Genre 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Children’s 2 (1%) 5 (2%) 7 (3%) 11 (4%) 7 (3%) 5 (2%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Fantasy 20 (7%) 35 (13%) 28 (10%) 30 (11%) 7 (3%) 31 (13%) 17 (9%) 11 (7%) 15 (8%) 12 (6%)
General Fiction/ Literature 22 (7%) 16 (7%) 21 (8%) 22 (8%) 29 (10%) 27 (11%) 17 (9%) 7 (4%) 30 (16%) 30 (14%)
Horror 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (.4%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Humor 9 (3%) 2 (1%) 4 (1%) 3 (1%) 1 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (1%) 3 (2%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller 117 (38%) 90 (34%) 105 (38%) 107 (38%) 102 (37%) 61 (25%) 64 (34%) 62 (37%) 63 (33%) 73 (35%)
Non-Fiction 22 (7%) 28 (10%) 25 (9%) 22 (8%) 10 (4%) 11 (5%) 8 (4%) 4 (2%) 2 (1%) 11 (5%)
Poetry 2 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Science Fiction 20 (7%) 20 (8%) 30 (11%) 25 (9%) 27 (10%) 37 (15%) 16 (8%) 17 (10%) 14 (7%) 11 (5%)
Steampunk 1 (0%) 2 (1%) 1 (0%) 3 (1%) 1 (0%) 2 (1%) 7 (4%) 3 (2%) 3 (2%) 11 (5%)
Theology/ Christian Living 38 (13%) 23 (8%) 34 (12%) 25 (9%) 30 (11%) 33 (14%) 42 (22%) 42 (25%) 37 (19%) 10 (5%)
Urban Fantasy 49 (16%) 42 (16%) 25 (9%) 29 (10%) 45 (16%) 36 (15%) 19 (10%) 20 (12%) 26 (14%) 48 (23%)
Western 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (0%)

Thanks to the nifty spreadsheet made by the Voracious Reader, I was able to get a few more stats. I find them interesting, maybe you will, too.

I honestly thought that re-read percentage was going to be higher—it dropped by 2% from last year. I expected it to be in the high 20s/low 30s.


Audiobooks also dropped a little this year, as that’s the majority of my re-reads lately, I guess that explains the drop there. Still, that’s another surprise decrease.

Enough about me. Now we get to my favorite part—I want to talk about you, who keep me going and show an interest in what I’m doing here and give some thanks to people for their impact on The Irresponsible Reader (the blog and the person) in 2021:

 

Have a great 2022, hope you find plenty of good things to read!

Mistletoe and Crime by Chris McDonald: Adam and Colin Get Called Back into Action

By

On December 8, 2021

In Chris McDonald, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, The Stonebridge Mysteries

This is going up a bit later than intended because I cut out about 30-40% of what I’d written—you can only go on so long about a novella before you’re competing with the length of the material. Hopefully, it’s still coherent.

Mistletoe and Crime

Mistletoe and Crime

by Chris McDonald
Series: The Stonebridge Mysteries, #5

Kindle Edition, 115 pg.
Red Dog Press, 2021

Read: December 7, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

The Intervening Year

So, it’s been a year since The Case of the Missing Firefly. Colin and Adam have seemingly retired from the jobs they never really had. They haven’t been in the wrong place at the right time to stumble upon a corpse or haven’t been recruited by loved ones frustrated by the police’s inaction, so they’ve been able to focus on things like Adam’s business and relationship, Colin’s job, and their ongoing PlayStation FIFA rivalry.

We’re given a little nugget about part of the reason for their inactivity:

After a number of embarrassing blunders, there was an investigation into the Stonebridge police force, which resulted in them taking crimes in the town a bit more seriously. This meant that the kinds of miscarriages and oversights that Adam and he had looked into had reduced in number, rendering the amateur detective duo obsolete.

I think it’s charming that protests, marches, and scandal are what lead to changes/potential changes in policing in series like Goldberg’s Eve Ronin or Connelly’s Renée Ballard, in Stonebridge’s universe, it takes a couple of guys who’ve spent too much time watching Sherlock to get the police in line. Of course, this is also a town where the “bad side” is characterized by “vegan food stores and hippy clothing bazaars.” If I can’t move to Stars Hollow, CT, maybe I can emigrate to Stonebridge…

Thankfully, in the Real World, Chris McDonald had plans for the duo, so their retirement is short-lived:

What’s Mistletoe and Crime About?

After watching a cheesy Holiday Rom-Com at the theater (and, no, Adam, did not cry at the ending, thank you very much), Adam and Helena take a shortcut through an alley to get to the car. Along the way, they come across an obviously dead body. Adam’s well-documented queasiness around blood rears its head (not before his subconscious notices something is wrong) while Helena’s nurse-reflexes lead her to snap a quick picture of the scene and before jumping to ensure that the man doesn’t need assistance.

The police quickly decide the homeless man—a well-known Stonebridge fixture—was inebriated, slipped on the snowy ground, and died of the resulting injury.

A man approaches Adam and Colin soon after this asking the duo to look into the death—his testimony isn’t unimpeachable, but it’s enough to move them into looking into things. The man’s claim is buttressed by the photo Helena took which shows a footprint suggesting that someone left the scene after the man was on the ground. So we’re off to the races…

The Boys Are Growing Up

In the year away, Adam and Colin have continued to mature. The impression I had during The Curious Dispatch of Daniel Costello was that these two would be the stereotypical 20-somethings who still lived with their mothers, jumping from entry-level gig to entry-level gig for quite a while (even if Colin seemed on the cusp of leaving that description behind when we meet him). But almost immediately, McDonald used their success as a catalyst for personal growth. One advantage of having them take a year off is that we can see the result of twelve months of incremental growth.

After a year away, Adam’s business has established itself pretty well. He’s doing well enough that at this time of year when there’s not a lawn to be cared for, he’s able to not have to worry about money. His relationship is going well enough that he and Colin don’t spend that much time together, and most of their gaming is done online.

Colin’s doing very well at his job and has been acting as a manager. He’s realizing that it’s time he finds a good relationship and is looking.

So, what did I think about Mistletoe and Crime?

No surprise here—I liked it. I liked it a lot. The first thing I did yesterday was to download it so I could spend my spare time in Stonebridge—which made for a perfectly entertaining day.

In addition to the typical Stonebridge fun, McDonald takes full advantage of the seasonal setting. There are any number of nice little holiday touches and jokes, for example: have we known the mayor’s name before? If not, it’s the perfect subtle joke. If we have had it before, I’ve fallen into the classic English major blunder of reading too much into things.

But more than just for fun, McDonald is able to tap into the spirit of the season—families and friends coming together for festive fun, the general bonhomie brought on by the traditions, not to mention the consumer-madness too-often seen in department stores.

This is the fifth novella in this series that I’ve talked about this year—I don’t have a fresh way to express my appreciation of them. It’d help me as a blogger if McDonald would stumble a couple of times with this series so that I’d have the opportunity to talk about him returning to form after wondering if the magic was gone. But no, he has to be consistently good so that I sound like a broken record.

A clever mystery, characters that display a good amount of development, situations that are appropriately amusing/sweet/tense, and the kind of prose that welcomes you in and makes you feel at home. In other words, a cozy—a well-written and executed one.

As is to be expected, McDonald delivers, you’re missing out if you don’t join in the fun (this would be a fine jumping-on point, I should add—but go back to the beginning while you’re at it)!

4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

PUB DAY REPOST: Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition by Nick Kolakowski: A Supersized Fast, Fun, and Bullet-Ridden Adventure

By

On November 29, 2021

In Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Be sure to check out the Q&A with the author fromlast week!

Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition

Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition

by Nick Kolakowski
Series: Love & Bullets

eARC, 300 pg.
Shotgun Honey, 2021

Read: November 8-12, 2021

A Little Background

Regular readers of this blog should recognize the name Nick Kolakowski, a couple of years ago I talked about a trilogy of novellas he wrote: A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps, Slaughterhouse Blues, and Main Bad Guy. Next week, these novellas, along with some additional material to tie them together and add a little something extra, are being published as one novel (you can read a bit about the circumstances behind that in the Q&A we did).

What’s Love & Bullets About?

Bill’s a con artist, a hustler with a hint of tech-savvy (and the sense to employ someone savvier) who has gotten comfortable doing small-time work for the Rockaway Mob. An encounter with a similar grifter delivers a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters his reality and he decides to get out of the business and retire somewhere far away. After he helps himself to a sizeable amount of money from the Mob.

Unsure of his girlfriend’s intentions or loyalty, he doesn’t tell her or bring her along. This is an understandable move, but also a bad move, because she’s an assassin for the Rockaway Mob and one of the few that is sent after him. Fiona’s in a forgiving mood when she catches up to him (probably helped by the fact that she’s fairly incapacitated at the time and can listen to him). The two of them extricate Bill from some trouble that he stumbled into in Oklahoma on the way to the southern border, take care of a couple of other Rockaway employees, and head to Central America for a quieter life.

Which absolutely doesn’t work for long—they find themselves indebted to another criminal organization and the Rockaway Mob isn’t done with them, either. So we get to travel with them as they narrowly escape death in Nicaragua, slip away from a garotte (or worse) in Havana, and get into a much more hazardous situation or five back in New York.

The Rockaway Mob

Every named character, with one exception, in this book is a criminal (the overwhelming majority of unnamed characters, too). So you really can’t say something about “bad guys”*—it’s protagonists and antagonists, and maybe an ally or two.

* Difficult, but not impossible, the third novella was called Main Bad Guy, after all—although there are a couple of candidates for that title.

The main antagonists for Bill and Fiona are the Rockaway Mob. The Rockaway Mob is a wholly modern take on organized crime. There’s no family history, no tie to an ethnic/national origin overseas, nothing that Scorsese or Coppola would make a movie about. Instead, they’re a conglomeration of shady businessmen (and an academic) who started working together and then turned things up to 11.

A handful of hitmen are brought in by the Rockaway Mob to take care of Bill (and, later, Fiona)—some are more colorful than others (and at least three of them could make great main antagonists in any number of PI/Police Procedural novels). But all of them pale to the academic who finds himself leading the Mob (at least as far as we see), he goes by The Dean.

He’s an annoying, pretentious, fastidious man with the kind of vocabulary that people notice. Nothing about him suggests criminal—of any variety, much less an organized crime head. But when you see him with his temper flaring, when he’s pushed to the limit? Well, there’s a beast under all that civilization…I could easily read more about The Dean at the drop of a hat.

The New Material

Not unlike Boyd Crowder when they decided to turn Justified into a series, someone who was killed in the original story has their fate changed in the new material. Also like Boyd Crowder, keeping them alive and running around made the whole thing a lot more interesting.

It’s a little tricky to describe, without spoiling something for new—or old—readers. But I had a suspicion about who survived—and was very happy when I discovered I was right. I’d really started to enjoy the character when they’d been killed, and getting to see them in action some more was a real treat.

It’s hard to describe the new arc for that character—it’s not really a redemption arc (although it’s adjacent to one). It gets to show them in a slightly different light than we saw originally, but the effects from the events surrounding their initial appearance definitely leave their toll on their psyche, if not their health.

I loved the new material—I wouldn’t have minded a little more, but I didn’t need it to be satisfied. It fit perfectly into this world but was so unlike the original material that it felt even fresher than it was. Definitely worth reading the new edition just for it (but really, the whole thing in one package is justification enough)

Reading the Megabomb Version

It’s been years since I read the original trilogy—January of 2019—so my memory for the details is a little hazy. Sure, most of it came back right away—but I will admit to checking with my hard copies of the originals to see if I’d forgotten something if was new or not a couple of times.

But without the pressure of wondering what was going to happen to Bill and Fiona, I was able to soak in some of the other details that I’d just glanced at before. This was as rewarding as I’d hoped—particularly with the second novella’s material, I didn’t initially rate it as highly as the other parts and I think that was a mistake.

The important thing to take away from the rereading process (at least for me) is that it totally holds up to a re-read.

So, what did I think about Love & Bullets?

I struggled the first time around, and I’m struggling now to capture the feel of this book. When I wrote about, Main Bad Guy, I said, “This is the literary equivalent of a Martin McDonagh film (when he’s in a more playful mood)—or, if that doesn’t work for you, think Fargo meets Tarantino, but not as long-winded.” Which isn’t bad (and I’d forgotten I mentioned McDonagh, which is really apt)—this time I’m going to add that it has a Shane Black, but more violent, feel. Maybe if you average the two comments—and throw in what I said about the first novella “think Edgar Wright action scenes, but more lethal.”

Even as the 300-page Megabomb it is now, this is a fast-moving thrill ride. It’s funny. It has occasional moments of sweetness (very transient). The story and characters are visceral—you can see the action, you can practically hear Bill’s quips and feel Fiona’s patience evaporating at them (while she does love him for them). It will get a much-beloved (or much-disparaged) band’s music stuck in your head during one fight scene. Really, it covers almost all the senses—and given where they spend a lot of time, you’ll be glad it leaves the other two out.

Has Kolakowski written novels/stories that are technically better? Probably. Has he written something with greater entertainment value? Nope. Love & Bullets is just a blast from the opening lines through to the final image. Be sure you don’t miss it.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the novel from the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion, and I thank him for that, but it did not affect my opinion of this work.

4 1/2 Stars

Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition by Nick Kolakowski: A Supersized Fast, Fun, and Bullet-Ridden Adventure

By

On November 23, 2021

In Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

I somehow unpublished this last night—so here’s a fresh copy…

Be sure to check out the Q&A with the author

Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition

Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition

by Nick Kolakowski
Series: Love & Bullets

eARC, 300 pg.
Shotgun Honey, 2021

Read: November 8-12, 2021

A Little Background

Regular readers of this blog should recognize the name Nick Kolakowski, a couple of years ago I talked about a trilogy of novellas he wrote: A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps, Slaughterhouse Blues, and Main Bad Guy. Next week, these novellas, along with some additional material to tie them together and add a little something extra, are being published as one novel (you can read a bit about the circumstances behind that in the Q&A we did).

What’s Love & Bullets About?

Bill’s a con artist, a hustler with a hint of tech-savvy (and the sense to employ someone savvier) who has gotten comfortable doing small-time work for the Rockaway Mob. An encounter with a similar grifter delivers a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters his reality and he decides to get out of the business and retire somewhere far away. After he helps himself to a sizeable amount of money from the Mob.

Unsure of his girlfriend’s intentions or loyalty, he doesn’t tell her or bring her along. This is an understandable move, but also a bad move, because she’s an assassin for the Rockaway Mob and one of the few that is sent after him. Fiona’s in a forgiving mood when she catches up to him (probably helped by the fact that she’s fairly incapacitated at the time and can listen to him). The two of them extricate Bill from some trouble that he stumbled into in Oklahoma on the way to the southern border, take care of a couple of other Rockaway employees, and head to Central America for a quieter life.

Which absolutely doesn’t work for long—they find themselves indebted to another criminal organization and the Rockaway Mob isn’t done with them, either. So we get to travel with them as they narrowly escape death in Nicaragua, slip away from a garotte (or worse) in Havana, and get into a much more hazardous situation or five back in New York.

The Rockaway Mob

Every named character, with one exception, in this book is a criminal (the overwhelming majority of unnamed characters, too). So you really can’t say something about “bad guys”*—it’s protagonists and antagonists, and maybe an ally or two.

* Difficult, but not impossible, the third novella was called Main Bad Guy, after all—although there are a couple of candidates for that title.

The main antagonists for Bill and Fiona are the Rockaway Mob. The Rockaway Mob is a wholly modern take on organized crime. There’s no family history, no tie to an ethnic/national origin overseas, nothing that Scorsese or Coppola would make a movie about. Instead, they’re a conglomeration of shady businessmen (and an academic) who started working together and then turned things up to 11.

A handful of hitmen are brought in by the Rockaway Mob to take care of Bill (and, later, Fiona)—some are more colorful than others (and at least three of them could make great main antagonists in any number of PI/Police Procedural novels). But all of them pale to the academic who finds himself leading the Mob (at least as far as we see), he goes by The Dean.

He’s an annoying, pretentious, fastidious man with the kind of vocabulary that people notice. Nothing about him suggests criminal—of any variety, much less an organized crime head. But when you see him with his temper flaring, when he’s pushed to the limit? Well, there’s a beast under all that civilization…I could easily read more about The Dean at the drop of a hat.

The New Material

Not unlike Boyd Crowder when they decided to turn Justified into a series, someone who was killed in the original story has their fate changed in the new material. Also like Boyd Crowder, keeping them alive and running around made the whole thing a lot more interesting.

It’s a little tricky to describe, without spoiling something for new—or old—readers. But I had a suspicion about who survived—and was very happy when I discovered I was right. I’d really started to enjoy the character when they’d been killed, and getting to see them in action some more was a real treat.

It’s hard to describe the new arc for that character—it’s not really a redemption arc (although it’s adjacent to one). It gets to show them in a slightly different light than we saw originally, but the effects from the events surrounding their initial appearance definitely leave their toll on their psyche, if not their health.

I loved the new material—I wouldn’t have minded a little more, but I didn’t need it to be satisfied. It fit perfectly into this world but was so unlike the original material that it felt even fresher than it was. Definitely worth reading the new edition just for it (but really, the whole thing in one package is justification enough)

Reading the Megabomb Version

It’s been years since I read the original trilogy—January of 2019—so my memory for the details is a little hazy. Sure, most of it came back right away—but I will admit to checking with my hard copies of the originals to see if I’d forgotten something if was new or not a couple of times.

But without the pressure of wondering what was going to happen to Bill and Fiona, I was able to soak in some of the other details that I’d just glanced at before. This was as rewarding as I’d hoped—particularly with the second novella’s material, I didn’t initially rate it as highly as the other parts and I think that was a mistake.

The important thing to take away from the rereading process (at least for me) is that it totally holds up to a re-read.

So, what did I think about Love & Bullets?

I struggled the first time around, and I’m struggling now to capture the feel of this book. When I wrote about, Main Bad Guy, I said, “This is the literary equivalent of a Martin McDonagh film (when he’s in a more playful mood)—or, if that doesn’t work for you, think Fargo meets Tarantino, but not as long-winded.” Which isn’t bad (and I’d forgotten I mentioned McDonagh, which is really apt)—this time I’m going to add that it has a Shane Black, but more violent, feel. Maybe if you average the two comments—and throw in what I said about the first novella “think Edgar Wright action scenes, but more lethal.”

Even as the 300-page Megabomb it is now, this is a fast-moving thrill ride. It’s funny. It has occasional moments of sweetness (very transient). The story and characters are visceral—you can see the action, you can practically hear Bill’s quips and feel Fiona’s patience evaporating at them (while she does love him for them). It will get a much-beloved (or much-disparaged) band’s music stuck in your head during one fight scene. Really, it covers almost all the senses—and given where they spend a lot of time, you’ll be glad it leaves the other two out.

Has Kolakowski written novels/stories that are technically better? Probably. Has he written something with greater entertainment value? Nope. Love & Bullets is just a blast from the opening lines through to the final image. Be sure you don’t miss it.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the novel from the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion, and I thank him for that, but it did not affect my opinion of this work.

4 1/2 Stars

A Few Quick Questions with…Nick Kolakowski (2021 edition)

By

On November 22, 2021

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

I’ve given up trying to come up with titles for these, this is the fifth Q&A I’ve done with Nick Kolakowski. I’m going to revert to tracking them with years. The focus this time is on Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition, that I’ll post about sometime today–you’re going to want to get your hands on it’s a lot of fun. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the Q&A:

You address this in the Introduction to Love and Bullets: Megabomb Edition, but can you give a thumbnail version of the choice to combine the novellas into a novel?
I never intended to combine them—at least at first. But Suhrkamp Verlag, which is a pretty sizable German publisher, approached Down & Out Books and Shotgun Honey about doing a combined, translated edition. That hefty book proved a solid success in Europe when it came out in 2020, which inevitably led to thoughts of doing a combined, English edition over here.

I think most writers, when given the opportunity to tweak their work, will take it. In fact, they might take the opportunity a bit too far. I started out envisioning some minor alterations—akin to what we did with the German edition, mostly to clean up some timelines—and ended up steering hard into a full-on rewrite. And that, I found, was pretty good for the soul.

To create this version, you include, “a change in a major character’s fate that ripples throughout the narrative.” I was pleased once I saw who that character was, and I really enjoyed the new material (and it felt seamless). Was that a choice that leapt immediately to mind when you started thinking about this version, or was there a little bit of struggle to decide what kind of new material to put in this edition?
Yes! Bringing that character back was the first thing I wanted to do. His voice had always poured out so effortlessly, and I came to regret killing him off as quickly as I did. Plus, taking him on a cross-country journey, then setting him up for a bit of third-act revenge, nicely added to the overall page-count—I wanted to give a lot of new material to anyone who’d read the novellas before, and was potentially wondering what they might get out of picking up the combined edition.

Knowing how things ended up allowed me to focus a bit more on details of the book—I wasn’t racing to see what happened next. One of the things I wished I’d paid more attention to the first time was the descriptions of the artwork in the gallery in Slaughterhouse Blues. Your descriptions of them function really well as either a satire of contemporary art or a positive depiction of it (depending on the inclination of the reader, I suspect). Were any of those works inspired by actual works you’ve seen? Or did you just sit down and have fun with the idea?
Like so many of the things I write about, all that art was pulled from real life. In New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, there used to be a string of warehouses near the West Side Highway that housed small galleries, and those galleries were filled with new art on what felt like a monthly basis (most of those galleries have been replaced by ultra-expensive condos, which is the way of NYC, I guess). When I was younger and broke, it was fun to grab a group of friends and head down there and drink free wine and view whatever was on display and selling for an absurd amount of money. Some of the art was quite good, and some of it was dreck so memorable it stayed in my head for years, just waiting to be translated into fiction.

I love a lot of modern art but it’s stunning what will sell for the cost of a new Tesla. I seriously suspect that money laundering is involved. Or very expensive favors between friends. It’s something I’d love to write about someday but haven’t quite come up with the time to invest in it.

I could come up with three or four questions about every supporting character in this book, but neither of us has that kind of time, so let’s focus on The Dean. He’s a both a comic figure (in mannerisms, vocabulary, etc.) and a violent criminal that should not be underestimated. How hard is that balance to strike (although, for this novel, it’s par for the course, so maybe no harder than any other). Where did The Dean come from?
I felt like too many books featured criminals who’d been born into the lifestyle. You read lots of thrillers with assassins who’d been taught the killing arts since birth, and/or were raised in a family or culture where criminality was as natural as breathing. I’d always wanted to construct a villain who was almost a criminal against their better instincts, someone who saw it as a way to make good money but who found it so stressful he basically woke up on the trembling edge of a coronary every day of his life.

With The Dean, having as a comic foil was also key. But as I wrote the novellas, I began to realize that his stress was also what made him dangerous—he prided himself on his rationality, but once his blood pressure skyrocketed past a certain point, he lost all control. When I was deep in the rewriting, I thought about extending his arc a bit, maybe giving him a bit more explicit backstory; but with villains, sometimes less is truly more.

Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I made up for these Q&As). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like Love and Bullets?
Definitely Winslow’s Savages, which is a masterpiece of splattery, slapstick violence that also has real consequences. I feel like people who loved Anthony Bourdain’s snarkiness in Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw would get into the tone of this one. Anyone who liked Frank Miller’s Sin City series would probably dig the action.

As usual, I’ve got to ask, what’s coming down the pike? Are you far enough into your next book to talk about it?
Right now I’m working on a novel-length sequel to “Love & Bullets,” which is set in Manhattan during a hurricane. I’m about a quarter of the way through writing it, and that’ll primarily be aimed at the European market. After that, I want to write a culinary-themed noir, but I’m still very much in research mode—I’ve been reading a lot of Anthony Bourdain and Bill Bufford, but also Kem Nunn’s Tapping the Source, which is a big inspiration for it. We’ll see how that goes.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for this fresh look at Bill and Fiona! I hope this version of their story finds a lot of new readers.
I do, too!

Opening Lines—Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition by Nick Kolakowski

By

On November 18, 2021

In Blog Series, Currently Reading, Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Nick Kolakowski, Opening Lines, Quotations

Head & Shoulders used to tell us that, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s true for wearing dark shirts, and it’s especially true for books. Sometimes the characters will hook the reader, sometimes the premise, sometimes it’s just knowing the author—but nothing beats a great opening for getting a reader to commit. This is one of the better openings I’ve read recently (it’s technically a reworking of a work I’ve previously used for one of these, it’s just as good the second time). Would it make you commit? How can you not?

Listen.

At some point, a poor sap will look at you and say, “This is the worst day of my life.”

But as long as you have breath in your lungs to say those words, you’re not having your worst day. You haven’t even hit rock bottom, much less started to dig. You can still come back from a car wreck, or that terrifying shadow on your lung X-ray, or finding your wife in bed with the well-hung quarterback from the local high school. Sometimes all you need to solve your supposedly world-ending problems is time and care, or some cash, or a shovel and a couple of garbage bags.

If you see me coming, on the other hand, I guarantee you’re having your worst day. Not to mention your last.

Let me show you how bad it can get. How deep the hole goes. And the next time your idiot friend says something about worst days, as the two of you stand there watching his house burn down with his pets and one-of-a-kind porn collection inside, you can tell him this story. It might even shut him up.

Let me tell you about Bill, my last client.

from Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition by Nick Kolakowski

The Case of the Missing Firefly by Chris McDonald: A Locked-Island Mystery

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On September 28, 2021

In Chris McDonald, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, The Stonebridge Mysteries

The Case of the Missing Firefly

The Case of the Missing Firefly

by Chris McDonald
Series: The Stonebridge Mysteries, #4

Kindle Edition, 96 pg.
Red Dog Press, 2021

Read: September 24, 2021

What’s The Case of the Missing Firefly About?

What better place than Northern Ireland’s “most haunted” island for a corporate Halloween party? This particular company is a local radio station—their on-air talent is known for heavy drinking, and being on an island (nearly) by themselves should provide a nice, safe environment for the heaviest of drinkers to indulge.

And they’re going to need to drink because they’re all going to get some bad news—and thanks to a bad storm, no one is leaving (or coming to) the island for a day or so.

Stranded with them are our intrepid Sherlock-inspired duo of Adam and Colin. Colin’s mother was the party planner and her tech guy wasn’t available, so these two get a nice payday for a quick job. While these two have matured a bit lately, easy money to mostly hang out in a hotel room where they can watch TV and play video games is worth having to endure a boat ride on choppy waters.

Naturally, because why would I be talking about this otherwise, in the midst of all the drinking and after the bad news—there’s a murder. And a robbery. With all the suspects trapped with them and almost no contact with the outside world, it’s time for Adam and Colin to dust off their Holmes and Watson act.

The Most Satisfying Paragraph of 2021?

People who read a lot—in any genre—are very likely going to see themselves in an observation the narration makes when Adam finds himself in a very tense situation. It was a great little moment, and a nice bonus to read.

It’s a small thing, but it brought a smile to my face. Each of the handful of times I’ve read it.

So, what did I think about The Case of the Missing Firefly?

There was a very somber tone to the first chapter that felt out of character for the series—but I was relieved to see it shift seamlessly into the typical Stonebridge tone in the next chapter as we get into Adam and Colin’s back and forth.

It’s good to see a little bit of the police’s attitude toward our pair—and theirs toward the police. Adam and Colin have a little notoriety—enough that the radio personalities know who they are, so the police certainly do. And, not at all shockingly, they’re not fond of a couple of amateurs making them look bad. Giving the duo a day on their own trapped on an island with the suspects to get a head start on things isn’t going to do much for long-term relations.

It’s hard to say something new about a series as consistent as this—especially with four installments in less than a year. I’m in great danger of repeating myself. So let me keep this short: The Case of the Missing Firefly* is yet another refreshing, fast-paced, and clever dose of cozy crime fiction (even for those who wouldn’t consider themselves cozy readers).

* Which, alas, is not a reference to the SF series—Adam and Colin save their fandom for Cumberbatch/Freeman and sports video games.

Go get your hands on this—and if you haven’t read the rest of the series, you should probably do that, too.

4 Stars

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