Tag: Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller Page 22 of 54

edited by Vern Smith

DETAILS:
Publisher: Runamok Books
Publication Date: July 1, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 258 pg.
Read Date: May 23-26, 2022

What is Jacked?

Run Amok Books is a indie press from New Jersey, and they’ve recently launched a crime imprint. Jacked is their “inaugural anthology,” with 20 stories of all sorts of Crime/Thriller Fiction on display.

There’s some gritty realism, there’s some noir, there’s a police procedural/samurai mash-up set in the 80s, and there’s even a “cozy espionage” (a subgenre I learned was a thing in this book). You’ve got stories featuring cops, bikers, hipsters, thrill-seeking teens, kids just trying to survive, a mechanic, addicts, rookie publicists, and rookie criminals.

Some were harrowing. some were bleak, some made me grin, several shocked me, some depressed me, some made me recoil, and I didn’t really know how to react to a couple of them.

Basically, no matter how particular your Crime Fiction Taste is, you’re going to find at least one story in here that’s going to appeal to you.

Stories that I Have to Talk About

I thought about writing a sentence or two about each story but decided that never works out well for anyone—the post becomes too long to read and to write. Also, there are a handful that I’d end up ruining by saying something (a shocking twist in a 6-page story doesn’t carry an impact when you know it’s coming).

Looking over my notes, I found myself singing “One of these things is not like the others,” when I came to “Nick Flaherty and the Body in the Lab” by Anne Louise Bannon. While you get all sorts of things in an anthology, this seemed more unlike the rest than any other story. So it stands out just for that—but I think this would’ve stood out to me regardless. I like the protagonist’s style, the narrative voice, and the world that Bannon created here. This is a spin-off of her Operation Quickline series, and I’ve added the first one to my “Buy This” list.

I really should pay more attention to titles, I know (I really only think of them in retrospect). But sometimes it pays off—there’s a better than even chance that I’d have rolled my eyes at Matt Witten’s “The TikTok Murder” if I had. I’m an old crank, I can’t take TikTok seriously—and the murder of an up-and-coming TikTok star isn’t going to get me excited. But the single note I wrote about this when I was finished was “this is exactly what I wanted to read today.”

“Samurai ’81” by Andrew Miller is one of the best concepts I’ve run across this year—you’ve got a young LAPD detective being mentored by an older, but not that-jaded detective. Not just in how to be a better homicide detective, but in being a Japanese-American detective in the early 80s. Then you throw in modern-day samurai—with the swords and everything. Who puts these things together? And how isn’t this a series already? (seriously, I have money ready to spend)

I had to limit myself to these—there are another half-dozen I could go on about.

So, what did I think about Jacked?

As with just about every anthology, in this Whitman’s Sampler of Crime, there are going to be a couple of stories that you’re going to want to spit out after taking a bite. I won’t name those for me—because I know there are those people in the world who like those orange creams or cherry cordials, even if I don’t understand them. Percentage-wise, they were smaller than I’m used to in a collection as eclectic as this one.

But even the worst story was so well-written, so well-executed that I can’t write it off as bad, just…very not-for-me. But the rest were absolutely worth my time—every single one was a well-written short story and I could see where it would rise to the top of a submissions pile. Jacked is one of those collections that I’m going to remember for a while.

If this anthology is any indication, Run Amok Crime is one to keep an eye on as are every one of the contributors.

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 expressed are my own.

PUB DAY SPOTLIGHT: A Long Way from Home by Brian W. Caves

By HCNewton

On May 27, 2022

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

It’s publication day for Brian W. Caves’s A Long Way from Home, and I’m glad to help spread the word about the book. Make sure to give this a look!

Book Details:

Title: A Long Way from Home by Brian W. Caves
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Red Dragon Publishing
Release date: May 27, 2022
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 363 pages
A Long Way from Home Cover

About the Book

A sleepy town in 1960s South Georgia, where to some residents, segregation is more important than catching a killer.

An ex-homicide detective from Chicago called to honour an old promise.

With a rising body count and a community guarding their secrets more fiercely than their children, asking questions could prove deadly for the outsider…

What the Reviewers Are Saying:

★★★★★ A book that grabbed me and took me back in time, it will enthral you

★★★★★ Outstanding! Caves has weaved a gripping story. I simply could not put it down

★★★★★ A powerful read

★★★★★ Thought-provoking and unmissable from the first page until the last

Purchase Links:

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK

About the Author

I started out as an engineer, then an estate agent, followed by senior management roles in cable TV and telecoms. Spent a few years as a management consultant and now work in the language translation industry.

I have played music all my life. Classically trained on the clarinet from the age of eight until fourteen when my world took a quantum leap forward after hearing Jimi Hendrix and Voodoo Child on the radio. I thought, wow, I gotta do that. I dumped the clarinet and I picked up the guitar and have never put it down. I have played alongside topflight musicians, both live and in studios.

From a young age I read books like Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Black Beauty, Swallows and Amazons, then The Famous Five, Billy Bunter, Jennings and Derbyshire, Biggles, and Tarzan. Agatha Christie had a major impact as did Georges Simenon. I penned short stories at school – mostly adventure, but it wasn’t until I became hooked on American Crime Noir that my urge to write came crashing to the forefront of my mind. Reading Hammett, Chandler, Jim Thompson, Macdonald, and the master, James M. Cain had the same effect on my potential writing career as Hendrix had for my music.

Currently, having been further influenced by the greats of Southern literature, I write crime stories based in the Deep South as well as UK based dark noir crime set in the county of Northamptonshire where I reside. Throw into the pot crime and horror short stories and novellas and you’ll have some idea of what goes on in my head.

My thanks to Red Dragon Publishing for the invitation to participate in this Spotlight and the materials they provided.

Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor: Glory Days, Well, They’ll Pass You By…

By HCNewton

On May 26, 2022

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

Don’t Know Tough

by Eli Cranor

DETAILS:
Publisher: Soho Crime
Publication Date: March 22, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 322 pg.
Read Date: May 19-23, 2022

I feel like I said too much here—I didn’t give away any plot points (I don’t think), but I still think I maybe said too much. I don’t know how else to talk about this novel. Also, I don’t think it matters what I say, just read the first two pages of Don’t Know Tough and it won’t matter what I put here—you’re going to have to read the rest or will just walk away.

Either way, you’re probably wasting time if you read this post when you could just read the @#$&! book.

What’s Don’t Know Tough About?

Billy Lowe is a running back for a small-town Arkansas High School Football team. He’s practically half the team by himself. They wouldn’t be in the State Championship playoffs without him—and they won’t win anything without him, either.

So when he gets himself in trouble—with the school and potentially the legal system—for repeatedly giving a beating to the son of one of the area’s richest men, their first-year coach’s dreams of glory are in jeopardy.

Then, the boyfriend of Billy’s mother is found dead—likely murdered. Things go from dismal to worse.

Billy

Billy has been valued for one thing in his life—he’s a great football player. He’s the son of a high school football legend. The younger brother of a phenomenal high school player. After High School, he will likely produce a few kids who will go on to be high school football players.

He’s also the target of his mother’s drunken and abusive boyfriend. Everyone living in their trailer is. Her boyfriend (Billy refuses to use his name) replaced the drunken abusive father and husband who abandoned them years ago.

His life is defined by football and abuse. Everything else is just filler.

It’s no wonder then that Billy is full of rage and need for some kind of affection beyond his mother’s imperfect attempts to express her love.

He doesn’t know how to live. He doesn’t know how to be an adult. He knows how to be hurt and how to hurt. We see that immediately in the first two pages—the next 320 are just the repercussions of that.

Coach Trent Powers

Coach Trent sees himself in Billy. His teenaged years featured several different Foster Homes until his high school coach brought him into his home and family and changed his life. He found stability, family, and Christianity. He went on to marry his coach’s daughter.

Trent wants to copy and paste his experience onto Billy (except that whole marrying the coach’s daughter thing—there’s no way that Mrs. Powers would accept that). He has far less time to replicate that scenario than his coach had, but he still thinks he can make it work.

He fails to see the things that separate Billy and his teenaged-self. More importantly, he fails to see the differences between himself and his coach. He is earnest, idealistic, and desperate—he thinks he can impose success on the situation if he wants it enough, if he believes it enough.

At one point, Trent tries to evangelize Billy. It epitomizes this whole endeavor and is one of the more painful scenes in a novel that has an overabundance of painful scenes. I wanted to call a time-out, stop the scene and talk to Trent for a minute. This is not how you present the Gospel, sir, as if simply saying “Jesus” will solve every problem. Go read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 and try again, stop rushing it. I think he’s genuine, I think this is a heartfelt attempt on his part to help Billy, I am convinced that Trent thinks he’s doing the right thing—but he’s approaching the whole thing incorrectly.

Trent sees himself as the Evangelical Louanne Johnson/Jaime Escalante/Principal Joe Clark/Sister Mary Clarence mixed with Coach Eric Taylor, who will rescue this kid. Sadly, he’s really just a combination of Ned Flanders and Michael Scott. I liked him, wanted him to succeed, and never thought for a moment he would/could, or should.

Race

You hear football, the South, and Crime Fiction and you think this book is going to be about race/racism—at least in part. And you’d be wrong—as hard as that is to believe.

But you’d also be almost right. One of the more impressive things about Don’t Know Tough is the subtle way it is and it isn’t about race in the South.

So, what did I think about Don’t Know Tough?

I was blown away by this. I should stop there before I go overboard with praise. But, I’m not going to. Feel free to stop reading now, though, I’m not going to improve on those six words.

I should probably start off by saying, as un-American as it is, I don’t like football. I don’t see why it’s popular, I wish so many young people in this country wouldn’t sign themselves up for the lasting physical and mental damage that it brings. I do not understand the religious fervor that grips fans of the sport—particularly in Texas and the South when it comes to high school and college teams. And frankly, I don’t know that I want to.

But hey, Dani Rojas speaks for millions when he says, “Football is life.” (even if he’s talking about the other football). So bring on the books about it—especially if you’re going to write them the way that Eli Cranor does. If you’re going to give me something this good, I don’t care what subculture, sport, or location it is—I’m going to lap it up.

As I stumbled through saying above, Don’t Know Tough is about race, it’s definitely about class and family. But it’s primarily about being an adult, about being a man, and how one gets to that stage in life—about mentorship and being mentored. Both Trent and Billy find themselves in situations where they have a greater degree of responsibility than they’re accustomed to or prepared for. Billy is thrust into it by his actions and other people’s actions. Trent decides to take it upon himself. At the same time, everyone around them recognizes them as still being (essentially) children and treats them accordingly.

This is a novel about heartbreak, despair, about clinging to a dream as it crumbles around you (whether or not you realize that’s what’s going on). There is a sense of inevitability about everything that happens to Billy, Trent, and their families—even if any of them realized what was happening and tried to change things, it just wouldn’t matter.

And all of it is told in prose that is beautiful, visceral, empathetic, and honest—I cannot convey to you the greatness of Cranor’s writing properly. I’ll either not be effusive enough in my praise, or I’ll come across as over-hyping it. He invites the reader to think about Hemingway* as you read this—in terms of themes, story, and character—but I’d like to think I’d have gotten there on my own.

* The Old Man and the Sea in particular, but I think it’s safe to bring other works into the conversation.

This is a brutal novel. As I read, I wanted it to end sooner than it did to just stop the suffering of these poor characters. But I wanted to read another couple hundred pages of Cranor’s writing.

Reading Don’t Know Tough is like watching a series of defensive highlights on the NFL Network—hit after hit after hit after bone-crushing hit. It will leave you psychically battered and bruised—and oddly wanting more.

5 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 expressed are my own.

Lifesign (Audiobook) by Carl Goodman, Louise Brealey: A Gripping Procedural with a Little Something Extra

By HCNewton

On May 17, 2022

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

Lifesign

by Carl Goodman, Louise Brealey (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: DI Eva Harris, #2
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication Date: September 23, 2021
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 13 hr., 6 min.
Read Date: May 10-13, 2022

What’s Lifesign About?

DI Ava Harris continues her work outside her specialty and keeps proving she’s pretty good at it—the book opens with a great action sequence as she leads a team on a raid.

After that, Harris is taken to what looks like a lab—a lab (or an art installation?) full of many well-preserved dead bodies (partial or intact). It’s disturbing for her and the rest of the police (and the poor teen who found it)—it’s disturbing for the listener, too. Once again, Harris and her detectives are on the hunt for a possible serial killer.

It takes a lot of time and effort for the detectives to find a common link between the victims that will hopefully lead them to a suspect. But once they come up with a theory, it indicates that there are more victims to be found—possibly still living. The pressure, which had been strong already because of the number of bodies, becomes even stronger—they have lives to save.

Paging Aldous Leekie

20/20 introduced us to a quasi-religious group, with some shades of medical science that’s a little beyond what’s actually possible right now. Eva is concerned another one of their members is involved in this case as well.

She’s not wrong, but she’s not quite right, her investigation leads to her coming across several people who’ve taken their medical research even further. There’s a strong vein of transhumanism running throughout this novel, adding a flavor to this that you don’t get in Police Procedurals.

We’re not quite talking Cyberpunk-level weirdness. This is about halfway between where we are now and Johnny Mnemonic/Mirrorshades.

There’s some more thoughtful, serious, “how can we battle diseases in new ways” types of science involved, but there are also some more frivolous (for a lack of a better term) uses of this science, too. There are a couple of scenes in a nightclub that feel like they’re straight from the Orphan Black Season 1 episodes with the Neolution club full of body modifications.

I love that Goodman’s able to take a pretty solid police procedural and mix this in so that the books become more than what they are (although, honestly, I’m betting they’d be worth the time without it)—you get something to think about, react to—maybe even research—in addition to the mystery.

My Inner Prude*

* This is an observation/description, not evaluative. I know I have a number of readers who’d want to know this before grabbing the book (and a number who don’t care, too).

There are a few scenes in this that don’t bring out my Inner Prude—but keep it bubbling right below the surface. Thankfully, Eva’s inner prude is pretty loud, too, so she keeps herself at arm’s length from those situations—well, maybe a cubit’s length anyway.

There’s also a scene of assault that’s going to be too much for many—and almost me—but it’s brief and easily skippable. It will be referred to later, but without details.

A Strange Rabbit Trail

Maybe because the same person recommended the two series to me, maybe because there’s a level of reflection on things beyond the case that are common between the two series, but at some point, I asked myself, “What would (Peter Grainger’s) DC Smith think of this case? How would he tackle this?”

I had to stop the audio and ponder this for a while—I think Eva wouldn’t be that great at any of his cases (although she might be quicker to move on some suspects), but DC dealing with the transhumanism angle is a little thought experiment that’s going to linger with me.

And very likely only me. So I won’t bore you with any of my thoughts. I just had to mention it.

How’s the Narration?

I’m going to largely just copy what I said before: Brealey nailed this—she captures Harris’ analytical approach, the distance she’s keeping from her team and the assignment—and then how that distance crumbles—and general unease with some aspects of the assignment. She also does a great job portraying the rest of the cast, and the unexpected attitudes from some of the suspects.

I don’t know if I can separate my appreciation of Brealey’s work from Goodman’s, and don’t really see the point in trying. In my mind, they’re a package deal and should stay that way.

So, what did I think about Lifesign?

This is a pretty gripping read—and as I said, there’s more to it than just the thriller/procedural. As I said before, it’s a great combination and one that I want more of (assuming they’re done as well as Goodman does it)

The key to the enjoyment of both of these books is Eva Harris. She’s this great combination of confidence and doubt; conviction and (hidden) rage; skill and dumb luck. Also, I love seeing her struggle with enforcing the law and seeking justice, while dealing with her instinct of circumventing the law in order to achieve the right result. She’s not the first or only police protagonist to balance these things, but the way Goodman pursues it is what is going to keep me coming back as long as he produces them. Think Fiona Cummings with a different group of psychological issues and without the casual drug use, and you’re most of the way to understanding Eva.

I’m hooked, if there’s a third installment in this series, I’ll be there with bells on. In the meantime, if you have the means, I strongly suggest you give this a shot.

3.5 Stars

COVER REVEAL: A Long Way from Home by Brian W. Caves

By HCNewton

On May 17, 2022

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Welcome to The Irresponsible Reader’s part in the Cover Reveal for Brian W. Caves’s A Long Way from Home! We’ll get to the (IMHO) impressive cover in a bit, but first, let’s read a little about the book, okay?

About the Book

The Watcher is a psychological thriller that will keep you hooked from the first page until the last…

What the reviewers are saying about A Long Way from Home:
A sleepy town in 1960s South Georgia, where to some residents, segregation is more important than catching a killer.

An ex-homicide detective from Chicago called to honour an old promise.

With a rising body count and a community guarding their secrets more fiercely than their children, asking questions could prove deadly for the outsider…

What the Reviewers Are Saying:

★★★★★ A book that grabbed me and took me back in time, it will enthral you

★★★★★ Outstanding! Caves has weaved a gripping story. I simply could not put it down

★★★★★ A powerful read

★★★★★ Thought-provoking and unmissable from the first page until the last

About the Author

The Cover

A Long Way from Home Cover
There’s something about that cover that grabs you, right? I love the detail on the bird. This releases on May 27, but why not go order your copy today?

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK

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

Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh: Bodies, Secrets, Memories and More are Unburied

By HCNewton

On May 13, 2022

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

Right Behind Her

by Melinda Leigh

DETAILS:
Series: Bree Taggert, #4
Publisher: Montlake
Publication Date: September 13, 2021
Format: Paperback
Length: 303 pg.
Read Date: May 10-11, 2022

What’s Right Behind Her About?

Since Bree has moved back, her brother Adam has been trying to get her to go visit their childhood home with him. It’s important for him to reconnect with her there, to get her help understanding the place where their father murdered their mother and then killed himself—he was too young to remember anything. He thinks it’ll be good for her, too. Bree has put it off for months, but as the novel opens, they’re finally there.

She’s able to show Adam around a little before things get too overwhelming for her—as they start to leave they stumble on someone squatting in their old barn. There’s an altercation, and in the aftermath, one of Bree’s deputies stumbles upon some human remains that had been buried in a shallow grave.

It’s a lot to ask of a novel’s first twenty pages—significantly advance a story arc and introduce the instigating event for a police procedural. All without cutting to a song by The Who (although one, or the NCIS/Castle instrumental themes, would have worked well at the close of Chapter 3). It’s the best opening in the series so far.

Given the evidence around the bodies, the killings happened long enough ago that Bree’s father is a suspect—but there are others as well. Bree and Matt turn up a lot of old secrets and scandals in their hunt for the murderer. And many of those involve Bree’s family.

Meanwhile, the County Supervisors are finally meeting with Bree about her budget—and it’s not going well. It doesn’t help that the squatter she arrested is the drug-addicted brother of one of the Supervisors directly involved.

Basically, this is not going to be the easiest period of her new career as County Sherrif.

I Admit to Some Apprehension

Let me preface this by saying that I like the series, and that doesn’t change in this book. Still, I think the books could easily become over-dramatic. Leigh’s avoided that, but there’ve been a time or two that I worried she might not. However, when I read in the description:

When he mysteriously disappears and Bree’s niece is kidnapped…

I will admit that I got nervous. This could easily have taken on the air of some sort of Lifetime movie or something. Her niece and nephew are great as part of Bree’s non-professional life—I really think things could get overwrought if they become part of the procedural.

It didn’t. Not even close. I breathed a big sigh of relief. I still think it’s a danger moving forward, but that’s for another day (or not).

So, what did I think about Right Behind Her?

This is easily the best of the series—in terms of writing, character, complexity of the case, and overall execution. While I’ve enjoyed them all, the second and third books made me wonder a bit if the series could live up to the expectations set by the first—I’m not that worried anymore.

There’ve been three storylines that have been going since the debut and I feared Leigh was going to stretch them out another 2+ books before really doing anything with them, and she made noticeable advancements in them all—actually, in every ongoing story, but those are the ones that were starting to chafe.

I still want a little more for Chief Deputy Todd Harvey. If Leigh had given us that in addition to all the rest? I’d probably be raving about this. I’m still recommending it heartily, but I’d be doing it with an exclamation point if she’d done something with Todd.

There’s some good sleuthing here, some great character moments, solid action, and even a little romance. If you like your police procedurals to have some heart, you’d do well to give these a try. I’m eager to see where Leigh takes these characters next, and I think you will be, too.

3.5 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 expressed are my own.

The Friday 56 for 5/13/22: Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh

By HCNewton

On May 13, 2022

In Currently Reading, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it.

from Page 56 of:
Right Behind He

Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh

“I can’t decide if he’s a great actor or truly impulsive. Did he insult that man thinking he could get away with it here?”

“No.” Matt considered Shawn’s expression after the fight. “He wanted that fight. The big guy reacted exactly the way Shawn intended.”

Bree frowned. “Why? Why would he want to get the hell beaten out of him?”

“By going to the ER, he avoided spending a night in jail.”

Bree sat back.

Matt continued. “He looked pleased with himself.”

A Spoilery Rant about Robert B. Parker’s Revenge Tour by Mike Lupica

By HCNewton

On May 12, 2022

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker

Okay, if you want to know what I thought about the novel as a whole, click here. Or scroll past this post to the next one. I keep a hard no-spoiler rule around here, but I had to get something off my chest…

Robert B. Parker’s Revenge Tour

by Mike Lupica

DETAILS:
Series: Sunny Randall, #10
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: May 2, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 319 pg.
Read Date: May 9-10

Seriously, don’t read on if you’re spoiler-phobic.

Robert B. Parker’s Revenge Tour by Mike Lupica: A Tale of Two Exes

By HCNewton

On May 12, 2022

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker’s Revenge Tour

by Mike Lupica

DETAILS:
Series: Sunny Randall, #10
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: May 2, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 319 pg.
Read Date: May 9-10

What’s Revenge Tour About?

Back in book 3, Shrink Rap,* Sunny Randall helped protect best-selling author Melanie Joan Hall from her stalker ex-husband. He ended up in prison by the end and Melanie Joan and Sunny have remained close—Sunny has spent a few years living in her home, in fact, as Melanie Joan’s now based in California.

* Thanks to the magic of Fiction, that was 2002. I’m not exactly sure how few years are supposed to have passed between books 3 and 10, but I know it’s not 20.

Now she’s back in Boston, preparing to shoot a Netflix series based on her Romance series. She’s been wildly successful already, but this is set to make Melanie Joan Hall huge. Naturally, this kind of attention is bringing out enemies—including one who claims that the novel that started it all was plagiarized. Sunny needs to track down this anonymous accuser, quickly and quietly.

Meanwhile, Sunny’s dad, Phil, could use a little help. Years before he retired, he arrested the son of a prominent defense lawyer and helped ensure he served a long sentence. That son was just killed in prison, and the lawyer is harassing and threatening Phil. Sunny and Lee Farrell team up to help Phil.

Sunny gets some evidence that causes her to give credence to the claims against Melanie Joan, and their relationship is strained. Then people close to Melanie Joan start being murdered because Sunny doesn’t have enough going on. So, she has to clear Melanie Joan (or definitively establish her guilt), keep her safe, find out who is behind the plagiarism and/or murders, and keep her father alive while stopping this lawyer. Sunny’s going to need all her allies—and get a few new ones—to accomplish this To-Do list and get out of this alive.

The Two Exes

One of the people with the biggest grudges against Melanie Joan is her ex-husband, serving a life sentence for his crimes against Melanie Joan, Sunny, and Richie. Sunny travels to the prison to see if he might behind this all. In fact, he knows a disturbing amount about Melanie Joan, Sunny, Richie, Jesse Stone(!), and the threats against her father. I should probably mention that recently, Melvin was represented by the same lawyer currently harassing Phil.

I remember less than nothing about John Melvin—it’s probably been 15+ years since I re-read Shrink Rap last. But based on what Lupica does with him he’s easily in the top 5 creepiest characters in the Parkerverse. And Lupica uses him as much as he can in this book. (but wisely not over-much) Why is it psychologists make the best bad guys? (see also Thomas Harris, Dennis Lehane, and a couple of other examples that will pop into my mind about 30 seconds after I publish this but that I can’t think of now)

But before John Melvin, Melanie Joan had another husband—he was her writing professor in college (feel free to cringe at that, Sunny does). Melanie Joan credited Dr. Charles Hall with helping her get her first novel into shape. So if anyone’s going to be able to clear her from these charges—or condemn her—it’s going to be him. Sadly, he’s in poor health and suffering from some sort of dementia. His current spouse (another former student) can give Sunny some information, however.

I’ve Got a Beef

I think that Lupica makes a giant misstep in this book, but to talk about them would involve spoilers. If you’re curious, I’m going to post something separately about it so I can keep this post spoiler-free. If you’re not curious, I’m not sure I blame you.

So, what did I think about Revenge Tour?

Lupica threw everything he had into this last go-round with Sunny. Almost every character he’s used makes an appearance or gets their name used a couple of times—plus a few others from the Parkerverse. The story is more intricate than anything he’s given us thus far, too.

Aside from the spoiler stuff, I don’t have much to quibble with. I think I could’ve lived with fewer TV references, they seem out of place in this universe. One would be okay, but there are more than a few. I also think the Phil Randall story resolved too easily—but it helped set up the rest of the novel, so I can see why Lupica made the choice.

At the end of the day, I was really impressed with this one. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—I think Lupica did a better job with Sunny than Robert B. Parker did, and this novel solidifies that. I’d be content with him writing this series for a decade, but I have high hopes for Alison Gaylin as she takes the reins.

If you’re even a casual reader of the Sunny Randall novels, this is one not to miss.

3.5 Stars

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Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts (Audiobook) by Kate Racculia, Lauren Fortgang: The Westing Game for Grownups (with a Supernatural Twist)

By HCNewton

On May 10, 2022

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

Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts

by Kate Racculia, Lauren Fortgang (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Publisher: HarperAudio
Publication Date: October 17, 2019
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 14 hr., 6 min.
Read Date: April 28 - May 6, 2022

What’s Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts About?

When Tuesday Mooney isn’t big on socializing—she seems to be a fantastic conversationalist, witty and smart—but she’d rather spend time on her own after work, with few exceptions. But even her best friend has to initiate conversations, she just doesn’t do that kind of thing. Tuesday is a researcher for a hospital charity—she knows Boston’s upper crust in ways few do. She has a well-documented dossier on them all and knows just how to get money out of them.

Tuesday has a neighbor, Dorry, who is an apprentice of sorts. Dorry’s a younger teen who lost her mother recently in an automobile accident. Her father is doing his best, but he can’t be everything she needs and provide for them. Dorry was fascinated by this woman in her building who wore black all the time and kept to herself. They run into each other one day and bond quickly. They soon have a weekly time together (“Tuesday Thursdays”) and Tuesday tutors Dorry in school—and important things like 1980’s-early 2000 music, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The X-Files.

At a charity event Tuesday’s working at, a particular wealthy man—Vincent Pryce—dies shortly before Tuesday gets to meet him. Pryce rather enjoyed his coincidental name, and played into it. In addition to making gobs of money and doing a lot of charity work, he collected the macabre—particularly things associated with Edgar Allen Poe and that other Vincent. He was a bit of a showman and after his death, had arranged to announce sort of a giant scavenger hunt in the city—inviting individuals and teams to play along to be given the chance to become an heir.

Like many Bostonians, Tuesday and Dorry are intrigued. With some help from her neighbor, Tuesday pours her research strength into the project and leaps to an early lead—bringing along an old friend and a new ally (assuming she can trust him).

That’s really all I can say at this point—other than to throw in, that like Samuel Westing before him, Vincent Pryce has a hidden agenda to his game. As we watch Tuesday, Dorry, and so many others compete, secrets are revealed. (that’s a horribly inadequate way to say it, but I’m tripping over myself to avoid spoiling anything)

Conversing with Specters?

So how literal is this title? Does our titular protagonist chat with the spirits of the departed? Maybe.

The book will eventually take a position on the issue, but it’s going to take its time on it, letting the reader ponder that a bit. Now there are times when I want a book to be crystal clear—supernatural things happen, supernatural beings go around doing things. Or—supernatural things are mumbo jumbo. But every now and then I like a book that deals with the ambiguity well—Tuesday might be talking to ghosts, Tuesday might have a healthy and active imagination, Tuesday might be dealing with trauma. It might be all three and more.

Tuesday’s neighbor, Dorry has no idea about Tuesday and ghosts. But almost more than anything, Dorry wants to see and interact with the ghost of her mother. At one point, she discovers that among Pryce’s collection of oddities are a pair of glasses that can enable the wearer to see ghosts. This becomes her motivation for participating in the game—sure, money would be nice for college and to help her father—but those glasses…

How’s the Narration?

Lauren Fortgang was delightful. There was just something about the way she handled the narrative portions that made this a blast to listen to. Her character work—especially with Tuesday and Dorry—was great, too. There’s a certain sense of fun and play to the text, and she brought that out in a way that was particularly effective.

I enjoyed Fortgang’s work on the Dahlia Moss audiobooks, and I was glad to listen to her again—I think she did better here, for what it’s worth.

So, what did I think about Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts?

I had so much fun listening to this—while doing so, things at work didn’t allow me as much time to listen as I’m accustomed to, so there was a bit of agony involved as the suspense built.

I barely described the characters, and had to leave off so many. But I just don’t have the space. Pryce’s widow, for example, is a wonderful character who should get her own novella to star in. Tuesday’s new ally is a mystery in himself—and won’t stop surprising you until the book is over. I could keep going here, but I won’t. I would love to have a long conversation with Racculia to talk about character design, more than most authors I’ve read recently. I’d love to know how she goes about it.

I’m not sure about the pacing of the whole thing, and I think there could’ve been one or two more moves in the game. But those issues really only occurred to me after I was done—in the moment, I was too busy enjoying myself to notice.

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts was a lot of fun to read, filled with characters I want to spend more time with—I really don’t need a story, maybe just see them sitting around a table talking about what’s going on in their lives. The novel is rarely what you think it is going to be—and not just at the beginning. I really enjoyed it.

3.5 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 expressed are my own.