Category: Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller Page 39 of 153

DETAILS:
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date:  April 12, 2021
Format: Hardcover
Length: 306
Read Date: January 17-18, 2022

“I imagine, being twins, the bond is even more unique. If you get along, that is.” She laughs.

Beverly doesn’t seem to be expecting an answer, and I am glad. If she had, I might have told her the truth. That people without sisters think it’s all sunshine and lollipops or all blood and guts. But actually it’s always both. Sunshine and guts. Lollipops and blood. Good and bad. The bad is as essential to the relationship as the good.

Maybe the bad is even more important, because that’s what ties you together.

A Tale of Two Sisters

This is about a pair of fraternal/dizygotic twins and their efforts to provide one of them with the baby she and her husband can’t have.

Sort of. Kind of. Mostly. There’s a lot more going on, but that’s the core.

We get told the story of these two from the perspectives of each twin. Let’s break it down that way.

Fern Carter

Fern is a librarian—she’s not really comfortable with people. Or with anything other than her routine. She describes others toward the end as neurotypical, which was nice, but it’s not really necessary, she’s clearly on the Spectrum somewhere. She’s overly sensitive to stimulus, not fond of touch, and bad with interpersonal relations and communications.

She’s great with people in circumstances she’s comfortable in—for example, the library. Reading to kids in the children’s library, recommending books to patrons, and dealing with the homeless people seeking shelter and showers, for example.

She also knows how much she owes her sister. So when she discovers that despite her desire to become a mother, Rose can’t, Fern takes it upon herself to get pregnant for her.

And things become even more interesting for her from there.

Rose Castle

We get Rose’s perspective from a journal she’s keeping—she tells us right away that this is a therapy assignment and not something she’s doing on her own. This is to help her process her childhood and some things she’s going through right now—like marriage problems.

From their early childhood, she’s taken on the role of protector to her sister—that has never stopped. And her journal entries show all the ways she’s been doing that.

We get a lot more of Fern’s first-person narration than we do of Rose’s journals. But it’s Rose’s perception that sets the agenda for the novel.

A word of warning—Rose is molested by one of her mother’s boyfriends. It’s clear that’s what’s going on, but Hepworth doesn’t get too detailed about it. Very little space is given to it, but it’s there.

But…

This is a psychological/domestic thriller—that’s clear, it’s marketed as one. So, despite everything I just said, you know that not all is right with these two and their life. The trick is figuring out what’s wrong and why.

So, what did I think about The Good Sister?

I spent so much of this book wondering why my friend suggested this for me—why would anyone think I’d enjoy this? Yes, it was well-written; yes, it was suspenseful; yes, I was interested in the story; yes, I really wanted things to work out for Fern and to understand Rose; yes, the pages were flying by (I read this faster than anything I’ve read for a month or so); no, I was not enjoying the experience. It’s a good read, just not my thing. I wasn’t thinking of stopping, I just didn’t see why I should bother going on.

But for the last hundred pages or so, I started to wonder if I really was enjoying it. The last 40 +/- pages? I loved it. Seriously, I had a blast with it.

Hepworth did a really good job telling the story and keeping you guessing about what was going on, why X said something, or Y did something. You can get a pretty good idea about all that, and probably make some strong guesses. But you’re going to be a little bit off (at least). Until Hepworth gets you right where she wants you, and then she just tells you what you need to know. Then, it’s about taking all it in, while holding on for a very taut and tense conclusion.

This isn’t going to go down as one of my favorite books—but it’s going to be one I recommend to people (I have a list of them in mind already), and it’s one I’d recommend to any of you who dig psychological thrillers or just want something a little different. You’ll likely end up liking it far earlier than I did and wonder what’s wrong with me.

3 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.

A Private Investigation (Audiobook) by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson: A Change is Coming

By HCNewton

On January 18, 2022

In Audiobook, DC Smith & Kings Lake, Fiction

A Private Investigation

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: A DC Smith Investigation, #8
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication Date: Nov 13, 2018
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 10 hrs., 40 min.
Read Date: December 13-15, 2022

But now, change is coming, and change is inevitable.

Except from vending machines.

What’s A Private Investigation About?

I haven’t really talked much about the Andretti case and the book that Jo Emerson is working on about the investigation—with Smith as a significant source. I haven’t talked much about Jo Emerson at all, either. Mostly because I wasn’t really sure where Grainger was going with this storyline. It’s the biggest case of Smith’s career, and in many ways defined it. It’s also the case that led to Chris Murray’s father leaving the police. There was a serial killer preying on young women. Smith and Murray stopped the killer, put him away years ago–—but questions have lingered.

But now, a young woman has gone missing in King’s Lake—so here in the last three weeks of Smith’s career, he’s pulled off the bench to take point on it—he’s headed a search for missing girls—no one else around has. At a certain point, Smith starts to see similarities between this missing girl and some of those related to the Andretti case. Then there’s an individual who popped up during both investigations. Suddenly the one man the police need to run things, the man who knows more about the Andretti case than anyone else alive is prevented from taking part in this new case. A logic that I don’t quite follow, but am sure it makes sense to someone.

Smith, however, keeps working the case—as off the radar as he can. What’s going to happen to him if he ignores an order or two at this point?

A Matter of Budget

It’s realistic, I’m sure, but there’s a lot of discussion about the budget for this investigation and what King’s Lake Central can spend on the search for this teen. While it’s come up before in this series—in almost every book—it’s very prominent here.

It’s also despair-inducing, while I understand that governments have to take this kind of thing into account—when a missing teen’s life could possibly be endangered, to think that the efforts to find her are governed by a financial report as much as—even more than—clues the investigation has picked up is hard to come to terms with.

Except for the cost of forensic tests, I don’t remember too many American procedurals hitting this point as hard as Grainger and other UK authors do (am thinking Rankin and Aaronovich in particular—even Paul Cornell’s <b>Shadow Police</b>series). I wonder if that’s more to do with the state of procedural fiction or if it’s the way different governments think about such things.

Smith’s Train of Thought

One of my favorite parts of these books is when we follow along with Smith’s Stream of Consciousness as he works through a part of a puzzle—or when he guides DC Chris Murray through something similar to help him build the same patterns. There’s something idiosyncratic about Smith’s thinking (although it never seems that way while listening, it seems like the only possible way to work through it) that is addicting.

We’re treated to multiple sessions of that this time out, and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. Even when I didn’t like the actions that Smith was taking after those trains of thought.

A Neat Cliffhanger that Time Ruined

This is slightly spoilery, unless you can do the very basic math. Still, feel free to skip to the next heading.

We all clear now? Last chance to skip ahead…

DC’s fate is very uncertain at the end of this book—it could very easily go either way, and with this very clearly the end of the series, it felt like Grainger was hinting in one direction.

However, this was published in late 2018, in 2021—book nine of the series came out (and there are some indications that Smith was a presence in at least the first of the Kings Lake Investigations series that came out after this book–I’ll be listening to that soon). This kind of kills the suspense for me—which is a shame, because that ending really could’ve gone either way and I’d have been going crazy if I listened to it new.

So, what did I think about A Private Investigation?

I’m so, so, so glad that we’ll get to hear what happens next with the group from King’s Lake Central in a new series. I don’t want to leave this world and these characters behind. I got too busy last year to stay on my schedule of listening to them, but I’m pretty sure that’s over.

This book was bittersweet, while the last book felt like the last gasp of DC Smith’s career, this definitely is. The case was compelling, the search for the girl was tense, and the emotions of Smith’s team—and Smith himself—were so well-depicted to make this a knockout of a book. But man…I just didn’t want to deal with Smith being done. Police procedurals don’t normally get that emotional for me—but several of these books have got me wrapped up in the characters’ lives–and this more than the rest.

This is absolutely, positively, not the book to start with for this series—almost any of the others would be, but the first would be best. But you absolutely, positively start this series if you haven’t yet. Jackson’s narration is outstanding, making the audiobooks my strongest recommendation, but I bet the charm of the characters would be evident in the print version as well.

4 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.

And Your Enemies Closer (Audiobook) by Rob Parker, Warren Brown: Things Go From Bad to Worse (and Then Even Worse)

By HCNewton

On January 13, 2022

In Audiobook, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

It’s entirely possible that this is barely coherent anymore, I’ve reworked this so many times to get at what I want to say (and am pretty sure I missed it still). As they say, perfect is the enemy of good—or at least the enemy of done. Hopefully, you get something out of it.

And Your Enemies Closer

by Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator)

BOOK DETAILS:
Series: Thirty Miles Trilogy, Book 2
Publisher: Audible
Publication Year: 2021
Format: Audible Original
Length: 7 hrs., 3 min.
Read Date: January 6-7, 2022

What’s And Your Enemies Closer About?

I keep accidentally spoiling something when writing this section, so I’m just going to borrow Audible’s summary:

In the North West criminal underworld, a deal goes tragically wrong, resulting in war between the two main organised crime factions in the region. Shockwaves rock the 30-mile gap between Liverpool and Manchester – with retired detective Brendan Foley right in the middle of it all.

For Brendan, six months after his resignation, life is all different. His marriage is a mess, he’s working as a nightclub bouncer, his brother is still missing and he just can’t stop searching for the crime family that destroyed his life. And at last, he’s found them – and he’s got them bang to rights.

Iona Madison, his one-time partner and now successor as a DI in Warrington Police, is tasked with a body pulled from the River Mersey – a teen-age boy that went missing the previous year, which might bring her own conduct into question. Not only that, Brendan is feeding her information whether she likes it or not – and his unsanctioned activities are causing her headaches.

And now, there’s a price on his head. A million pounds, dead or alive.

And Your Enemies Closer is a serpentine race against time as Brendan and Iona must stay one step ahead of criminals at every corner, while trying to bring justice – in whatever form it takes, and whatever loyalties it might burn.

Things Change

When I posted about Far from the Tree, I’d said:

Foley comes across as the kind of cop you want to read about, the kind that you like to think you can find in police forces all over the world—sure, he needs some marriage counseling and needs to do some serious work when it comes to his kids. But who doesn’t have problems?

In the six months since he retired, all that has changed. Very understandably, Foley isn’t that guy anymore. He’s the kind of guy you fear you can find in police officers all over the world. Sure, that makes you wonder if he ever really was that guy—but I think he was, through sheer act of will maybe, but he was that guy. But that’s over—his marriage is on the ropes (to speak optimistically), he’s not the father he used to be. All he has room for is a mission—take down that crime family that had taken so much from him.

D.I. Madison’s changed, too. She’s still trying to prove to her superiors that she deserved the promotion. I really thought I got to know her as a character in the previous book, and I didn’t feel that way this time. Yes, she’s in it just as much—but it’s almost all work, no reflection. The time-frame for this book is much shorter than the last one, so we don’t have time to see her off-the-clock or in a quiet moment to think.

Another reason I think I might have had that reaction is the number of Point of View Characters is larger than the last time out, and those who aren’t Foley and Madison get more time. I could be very wrong about that—I’ve listened to a lot of books in the 16+ months between these two—but that’s the impression that I had. It makes for a richer and more developed story, but it came at the cost of at least Madison’s character.

Warren Brown

I don’t know much about Brown’s acting—he hasn’t done much widely available in the U.S. (at least legally), but I’ve really liked him when I have seen him. But, his work on this series is enough to make me start petitions for streaming services to start showing his stuff.

He brings these situations and people to life in a way that you can practically see them, it’s like you’re in the room with them. Getting the right narrator is always important when it comes to audiobooks—doubly so with things like Audible Originals that have no text version. Whoever got Brown to do this series did us all a favor.

So, what did I think about And Your Enemies Closer?

I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the predecessor—but I’m pretty sure that has everything to do with this being the second installment in a trilogy. It’s just the way I am with trilogies.* I do wonder if some of it is also the way D.I. Madison was used here. On both counts, I fully expect that the close of this trilogy is going to leave me impressed and maybe even liking this a bit more than I do right now.

* With the possible exception of The Empire Strikes Back

Parker’s a great storyteller, and that’s on full display here. One example of that, I’ll try to keep it vague. Still, spoilerphobes might want to skip to the next paragraph. There’s someone early one that you realize is going to die before this book ends. Really, they might as well have been named Corpsey McCadaver. In just about every scene with them, I liked them more and more and grew more and more certain they’d die soon. But when it happened—I was totally caught off-guard, bolted upright in my char, and apparently made a sound audible in the next room. That’s storytelling.

I thought that the image of the mass grave from the beginning of Far from the Tree was the apex for disturbing images for the series. A big shock to get the ball rolling, and it’d be all down here from there. I don’t remember being that naïve and foolish, but man…Parker outdoes himself in creating one location in the book. I’m just glad the Smell-O-Vision technology hasn’t made its way to smartphones. Also, there’s a method of murder used here that I’ve never run across before, I’m dying to know if it’s real, but I don’t even know how to search for it online without going on the FBI’s radar. Seriously, the book is worth your time just to hear about it. I’m not sure the book is also worth the poor sleep you’ll get if you think too much about the method, however.

As I said before, there are many point-of-view characters running around in this novel, and I wouldn’t have complained about having more time with any of them. Other than Madison, we got enough time with them all, but I enjoyed each perspective enough that I could have taken at least one more scene with them all. I typically think less is more on the multiple-perspective novels, but this isn’t one of them. Both Parker and Brown handle all the voices really well.

Outside of Corpsey McCadaver, I couldn’t predict anything about this story. Parker keeps you on your toes and on the edge of your seat—he zigs when you expect him to zag. Or, he zags when you expect, but in a way that turns your expectations upside down.

Once again, Parker and Brown have delivered something brutal, unrelentingly gripping, and full of the unexpected. I can’t wait to see what they’ve got in store for #3.

3.5 Stars

Announcement: Stonebridge Mysteries Compilation Paperback!

By HCNewton

On January 12, 2022

In Chris McDonald/Frost, The Stonebridge Mysteries, Uncategorized

One more announcement about The Stonebridge Mysteries today from Red Dog Press! The Ides of March are bringing something good this year…

A special, limited edition compilation paperback of Books 1-6 of The Stonebridge Mysteries. This will be a signed and dedicated, numbered edition—1 of 50 available. It will be published on 15th March 2022 and will only be available from Red Dog’s website: https://www.reddogpress.co.uk/product-page/the-stonebridge-mysteries-1-6

My thanks to Red Dog Press for the invitation to participate in this announcement and the materials they provided.

The Curious Dispatch of Daniel Costello (Audiobook) by Chris McDonald, Stephen Armstrong (Narrator): The Atypical Cozy Mystery is Now an Audiobook

By HCNewton

On January 12, 2022

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

The Curious Dispatch
of Daniel Costello (Audiobook)

by Chris McDonald, Stephen Armstrong (Narrator)
Series: The Stonebridge Mysteries, #1

Unabridged Audiobook, 2 hrs., 56 min.
Isis Audio, 2022

Read: January 10, 2022

I’ve been posting about this series all day (with more to come); on Monday, I called the text version of this one of my favorite reads of 2021…there’s not much to say about this that I haven’t already. But, for the record, here’s my original post about the book—if you don’t know anything about the book, you might want to give it a read.

So, Let’s Talk About the Audiobook

When it was announced that this was going to be released on audio this year, I was (naturally) curious. How was it going to translate to this medium? How would the narrator do at capturing the quirky flavor of this series?

Thankfully, the answer is pretty well. I figured there were two ways they could approach it: leaning into the comedic aspects of it and hamming it up a bit, or playing it straight and letting the text do all the heavy lifting. I’ve heard narrators taking both approaches, and I almost always prefer the latter, and that’s the case here.

Armstrong seems to be having fun with the material, but he’s not trying to convince the audience that the situations that Adam and Colin find themselves in are a little ridiculous, nor is he hitting anyone over the head with any of the comedy.

Stepping away from the audio experience for a moment, this is a clever little mystery—most (maybe all) of the clues are there for the reader to pick up and put together with (or before) Adam. For me, at least, this is what I want in this kind of story—a little bit of fair play so that I can match wits with the sleuth (amateur or not).

All in all, this is a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours—Armstrong and McDonald are a great pairing, and the news today* that we get another five of these is very welcome. Now’s the time to start listening to these.

* Incidentally, I’d planned on posting this today before I was invited to have all these other Stonebridge posts today, I’m not that much of a sell-out.

4 Stars

Audiobook Announcement: The Stonebridge Mysteries!

By HCNewton

On January 12, 2022

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

Not only did Red Dog reveal the cover for the sixth Stonebridge Mystery today, but there’s more news! Red Dog are absolutely delighted to announce that our friends over at @Isisaudio will be bringing you the first six stories in The Stonebridge Mysteries by @cmacwritescrime as glorious audiobooks, narrated by the incredible Stephen Armstrong. Get them all before the year is out.
Stonebridge Audiobook Announcement
Isis Audio will be producing the next five books in the series to follow up on the great success of The Curious Dispatch of Daniel Costello on audiobook. You can get that audiobook now:

Audible UK ~ Audible US

My thanks to Chris McDonald Red Dog Press for the invitation to participate in this announcement and the materials they provided.

COVER REVEAL: All at Sea (Stonebridge #6) by Chris McDonald

By HCNewton

On January 12, 2022

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

Welcome to The Irresponsible Reader’s part in the Cover Reveal for Chris McDonald’s All at Sea! This means we’re about a month away from me having a pleasant day with the book and probably saying some complimentary things about it. Red Dog Press continues their streak of dynamite covers, but before we get to it, let’s read a little about the book…

Book Blurb

Adam and Colin are aboard The Elysian, cruising towards Italy to see Adam get hitched, and are determined to stay out of trouble…

On the first night, a priceless piece of art is stolen from an eccentric old lady. Adam and Colin offer to help recover it, and are convince the thief was one of their fellow dinner guests from earlier in the evening.

Can the amateur sleuths reunite the painting with its owner before they dock in Venice? And, with danger lurking around every porthole, will Adam even make it to the altar?

All at Sea is the sixth in the Stonebridge Mysteries series of cosy crime novellas.

Publication date: February 15, 2022

About the series

Stonebridge is a small town on the north coast of Northern Ireland. Most of its inhabitants are friendly, happy people. Most of them… Because bad things happen even in the happiest of places. It’s a good thing, then, that Adam Whyte and Colin McLaughlin call Stonebridge home.

Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of detective shows, a misplaced sense of confidence and a keen desire to see justice done, these two are the closest thing the town has to saviours. Which isn’t that reassuring…

About the Author

Chris McDonald grew up in Northern Ireland before settling in Manchester via Lancaster and London.
He is the author the DI Erika Piper series A Wash of Black, Whispers In The Dark, and Roses for the Dead. He has also recently dabbled in writing cosy crimes, in the shape of The Stonebridge Mysteries, as a remedy for the darkness.

He is a full time teacher, husband, father to two beautiful girls and a regular voice on The Blood Brothers Podcast. He is a fan of 5-a-side football, heavy metal and dogs.

Find him on twitter @cmacwritescrime

And now…

The Cover

All at Sea

You’re going to want this on your shelf or e-Reader. Order it now from Red Dog Press. I know that I’ll be placing my order in just a few minutes…

My thanks to Red Dog Press for the invitation to participate in this reveal and the materials they provided.

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

By HCNewton

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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

Family Business by S.J. Rozan: Family Matters

By HCNewton

On January 6, 2022

In Fiction, Lydia Chin & Bill Smith, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, S. J. Rozan

Family Business

by S. J. Rozan
Series: Lydia Chin & Bill Smith, #14

Hardcover, 289 pg.
Pegasus Books, 2021

Read: January 1-3, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

“Big Brother Choi died.”

“Wow. What happened?”

“Massive heart attack. Not to worry, there.”

I hadn’t really been worried. It wasn’t likely Big Brother Choi had been rubbed out by a rival tong leader and a Chinatown tong war was about to start. Those ham-handed days were largely gone.

But Mary’s “there” implied something else, and I knew what it was, the reason Chris Chiang had called. A seismic shudder was about to move through the streets we’d grown up on.

Our high school physics prof had told us that nature abhors a vacuum.

So does power.

What’s Family Business About?

The core of this novel is focused on what’s going to happen to a real estate development in Chinatown. Which really doesn’t sound that exciting—but Rozan’s able to make you care. Also, this is not a run-of-the-mill real estate problem.

There’s a large-scale development headed towards Lydia’s neighborhood, whether anyone wants it or not. The only thing stopping it is that the owner of one building in the middle of the projected development refuses to sell. That owner is—er, was—Big Brother Choi, the head of a tong, who uses that building as his tong’s HQ.

So, yeah, a criminal enterprise is all that stands between a (seemingly) legal and successful businessman and the destruction of a neighborhood/way of life. And then the head of the tong dies (of natural causes), and everything could change.

Choi’s niece—the executor of his will—comes to Lydia and Bill to provide some security for her as she tries to exert her position vis-à-vis the building. A lot is riding on this one building, and everyone has an opinion: there are two factions within the tong vying to determine the future of the building (and, with it, the tong); the developer; and the neighborhood’s historical society–and it’s all up to her to decide. People on all sides of the issue are trying to pressure her into making a decision they’d prefer about the building–and some of the pressure could be pretty intimidating.

Especially when ranking members of the tong start dying—without natural causes like those that took out Choi. And then people start shooting at people tangentially connected to the niece and threatening them.

Lydia and Bill now have to keep the niece alive and unscathed while trying to discover who’s behind the shooting and the dead tong members.

The Lydia and Bill Relationship

There are several reasons that Lydia and Bill’s romantic relationship is one of my favorites in fiction, and I’m not going to try to enumerate them all. But probably my favorite part is that when they shifted from close friends/business associates to romantic partners the rest stayed pretty much the same. They deepened what was there, but didn’t radically change it.

Their flirting is a little more obvious—and Lydia’s less likely to cut it off. But they still have each other’s back, the mutual support and trust are still there. When they’re on the job, they’re on the job, not making goo-goo eyes at each other. Bill knows that Lydia is going to be reckless—and he doesn’t try to stop her any more than he did before, but he sure worries about her. Would that everyone in fiction who made that transition did so as well.

So, what did I think about Family Business?

As I’ve mentioned before (likely too often), while I think most of the Bill-narrated novels are technically superior, the Lydia-narrated novels are consistently the more entertaining. So I went into this with high expectations—and they were pretty much met.

I could go on about the flirting between Lydia and Bill, or talk about Lydia’s wit and narration, or how nice it was to see a minor character from several books ago show up. But that’s probably enough to indicate where I’m leaning with this post. There are a couple of points that I want to talk about a little, however.

I loved the way Lydia’s mom inserted herself into the investigation. I’ve said enough about the slow-burn in getting the romance to advance, but getting Lydia’s mother to stop actively disapproving of Lydia’s career and now getting involved?? I dare you to go back 13 books and try to predict that.

Like most people who read Detective Fiction, one of my great joys is being one or three steps ahead of the protagonist in putting the clues together. THere’s something so satisfying about being more clever than they are—and in getting your guess endorsed by the protagonist. But what’s better? Having the protagonist put all the pieces together in a way you didn’t see coming—and instantly realizing there was no other way to interpret the evidence. That mix of “X was really clever there” and “ugh, I’m such a dunce for not seeing that” is somehow gratifying. For me, at least, the solution

Still, I’m not sure the people that Lydia initially revealed the solution to were the best to hear that. I’m even less sure of her timing on the revelation. But it did lead to some of the more exciting parts of the book—so as a reader, I liked that. I just wish that Lydia would be more judicious at times.

This was my first novel of the year—it’s a pretty good way to start 2022, something as entertaining as this was can make a guy optimistic about the next twelve months. That’s probably a silly way to think about things, but I’m running with it.

Family Business is not only another strong entry in the series that will please fans, it (like almost all those before) would be a good entry point for someone curious about the series. So really, there’s no excuse to not pick it up. Go do so.

4 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.

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2021

By HCNewton

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 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 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 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

In 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 & 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 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 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 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 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 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