It’s Halloween and Sam Spade is taking the night off and attending a party. Naturally, he’s going as himself, the world’s greatest private detective. His flirting with the beautiful Marilyn Monroe is interrupted by a six-foot tall jackalope, who falls dead at their feet. It’s no mystery what killed him – a samurai’s katana. What is a mystery is which of the party goers skewered him. It’s a cast of suspects unlike anything Sam has seen before: a samurai, a jester, a mime, a fairy, a dragon, a pirate. . . and her parrot, Luther
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THE LAST KIND WORDis a PI Mystery. Mac McKenzie is up to his neck in trouble, but this time, it’s not his fault. He’s doing a little favor for the FBI and the ATF. The trouble this time is guns, the illegal kind that the ATF mighta lost track of. When a member of a gang of thieves is caught using said gun, McKenzie is asked to infiltrate and to the impossible.
Bottom line: THE LAST KIND WORD is for you if you like hard boiled PIs who think on their feet and stay one step ahead of everyone else. . . well, no more than a half-step behind.
Strengths of the story. In full disclosure, I am a huge Mac McKensie fan. I began with book 6, JELLY’S GOLD, which I know is totally weird for a reader, but that’s my reality. Rushmore “Mac” McKenzie is an ex-cop who hit a big payday and now is somewhere between the quick-witted Indiana Jones and a relentless avenging angel. Book 10, THE LAST KIND WORD, was an action-packed read that did not disappoint.
One strength of this story in particular is the way Housewright opened it. He drops us right in the middle of the action and lets up fend for ourselves for a few pages before enlightening us to the scheme. The set up was masterful with frenemies coming together to bait a trap.
The story itself is well crafted. Set in a small Minnesota town, there are no secrets among this close knit population. Mac has to think fast as he works to maneuver the gang of thieves to reveal their gun dealer. He didn’t expect the “gang” to be a dysfunctional family, down on their luck due to a crummy economy. He didn’t expect to like them. He didn’t expect to be planning the heist of the century.
Standing at the end and looking back, the plot is solid. The mystery is a “how they gonna catch’em”, meaning we know from the beginning who the criminal is. There are elements of conspiracy and thriller stories that drive the pace and keep you guessing on how Mac is going to straighten the mess out.
The number one thing this book is…is fun!
Where the story fell short of ideal: I didn’t find a lot to complain about with THE LAST KIND WORD. Mac is his usual, larger-than-life self. The usual supporting cast have a minor role in this one, so it works well as a stand alone or for a new reader to the series.
THE LAST KIND WORD was released from Minatour Books in 2013 and is available from AMAZON LINK and other book retailers. Check out David’s website at https://www.davidhousewright.com/
25 to Lifeis a PI Mystery and is also characterized as Noir Fiction and Crime Thriller. Jack Bertolino is back for his fifth case. A law student is dead. Her crime? Working on a Project for the Innocent case on behalf of Carl Forbes. What Gloria Millhouse finds? Well, it stinks. Before she can move on it, someone moves on her. Now Jack is on the case, looking for the scum behind the shiny badges of the LAPD SWAT team to find the answers.
Bottom line: 25 to Life is for you if you like classic hard-boiled PIs who punch first and ask questions later and do the dirty work that the good cops can’t.
Listen to the first chapter here or wherever you get Mystery to Die For podcast
Strengths of the story. The set-up is classic PI. A bright, talent law student is killed in a murder made to look like an accident. (I don’t consider this a spoiler b/c if it was an accident, there wouldn’t be a story.) She’s connected. Her father is a renowned attorney and political supporter who asked his friend the Los Angeles mayor for help. That help comes in the form of Jack Bertalino, former NYPD inspector turned private investigator. I really like this set-up because it gave Jack a legit reason to dive into the case and the backing to go places and ask the questions he needed to.
The pacing is excellent. At no point did my attention wander or did I get bored. I got a little anxious a few times, but that was a good thing.
This is Jack’s fifth case. I have not read the prior ones and this one stood solidly alone. Lansing did an excellent job of briefly providing any needed back story without providing a full page synopsis of the prior cases. It is obvious that Jack’s team were in the previous books as they were fully developed characters, comfortable in their own skin.
Where the story fell short of ideal. There wasn’t a place it fell short of ideal, per se. There were a few grammar typos, such as “ in the wrong place, but those were minor and did not detract from the story.
While I thought the final confrontation with the Big Bad was excellent in terms of action and excitement, I did roll my eyes at the set up. It was the only time that I thought Jack acted out of character. He is brave and aggressive, yes, but he is smart, manipulating situations to put the odds in his favor. This time, he chose to run into hell carrying a water bottle. At least he put a vest on. This is obv my pet peeve. I bet most of you hard boiled PI lovers will love it just the way it is.
Estelle Cummings patrols Jawnville’s Locust Valley Park with the Silver Apostles (a senior version of the Guardian Angels) keeping the park safe from the elusive Nature Jacker. But on this particular night, Estelle stumbles across the alleged flasher, khaki’s around his ankles and body still warm. With the police eager to shelve the murder investigation because who cares who killed the public masturbator, it’s up to Estelle to solve the mystery. Toss in a dash of fentanyl, an anti-woke march, a handful of clues best observed under a blacklight and our amateur sleuth is in over her head.
A Short Mystery from the Rockfish universe
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Echo from a Bayouis a paranormal suspense. John Bastian went head-first into a tree. He woke from a coma and, yeah, he could see dead people. Even weirder, John woke with memories of a war he never fought in, a career he never had, and a wife he never kissed. Flashes hinted at map leading to treasure and an ax leading to death of the man who John was…Jack Bachman. Now John is on the hunt for the treasure, his murderer, and the woman he left behind.
Bottom line: Echo from a Bayou is for you if you like your suspense steeped in the supernatural, paced to draw out the good stuff and finishing with one of the best, eerie endings you’ve ever seen.
Listen to the first chapter here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast
TG Wolff Review
Echo from a Bayouis a paranormal suspense. John Bastian went head-first into a tree. He woke from a coma and, yeah, he could see dead people. Even weirder, John woke with memories of a war he never fought in, a career he never had, and a wife he never kissed. Flashes hinted at map leading to treasure and an ax leading to death of the man who John was…Jack Bachman. Now John is on the hunt for the treasure, his murderer, and the woman he left behind.
Bottom line: Echo from a Bayou is for you if you like your suspense steeped in the supernatural, paced to draw out the good stuff and finishing with one of the best, eerie endings you’ve ever seen.
Strengths of the story. From the start, the premise of the story grabs you. This isn’t a typical time travel type of story but a well-reasoned reincarnation story. This not only is a unique spin on the supernatural genre but eliminates all the problems of logic stability that is inherent in time travel.
The characters are also a winner. John / Jack is an ordinary man, put in extraordinary circumstances. He doesn’t flip a switch and go into hero mode but his slowly driven there by memories and urges his rational mind has to justify. The best friend, Kevin, is an excellent comic relief. The bad guy, Scott, is complex. Just because he’s evil doesn’t mean he’s always an asshole.
The pacing matches the expectation set with being suspense. Certainly, some scene hit the thrill level, but, overall, this is one you sit back and enjoy…until you have to read faster because the shit is hitting the fan.
Where the story fell short of ideal: Having finished this book several days ago and revisited the plot, this is a really solid suspense. There is very little to pick on here. If you like thriller-like pacing, you may find this a bit slow, but again, this is true to the suspense genre.
While I totally loved the end, I did have one question for the author on why/how it happened that way. Regardless of his answer, this is at the top of my list for cool ways to finish a book.
J. Luke Bennecke, a master civil engineer, became an award-winning author, philanthropist, and daredevil pilot amidst the concrete jungles of Southern California. While constructing bridges and highways, Bennecke secretly plotted high-octane thrillers that became instant bestsellers. But his adventures didn’t end there. As a licensed real estate broker and general contractor, he built homes with the precision of a ninja, all while jetting off to exotic destinations, voiceover acting, and giving back to the community via annual high school scholarships. Living in the shadows of Cherry Valley, CA, Bennecke’s next daring escapade is always just around the corner.
Echo from a Bayou was published by Jaytech Publishing and Promoted by Partners In Crime book tours
Charlie and Cyn, aka The Misfortune Sisters, have their quiet day interrupted by an unexpected visitor poking his big nose in the kitchen window. Keith the donkey had escaped from Ralph Braun’s field in search of carrots. When Charlie goes looking for Ralph, she finds him dead in his barn. Death by donkey. Or was it? Now she and Deputy Matty Hinkle are chasing down leads before they buy into blaming the jackass.
Listen here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For Podcast
Reckoningis a mystery with a conspiracy thriller subgenre. It’s the 1970s and Portland, OR Detective Clark Wehr is found dead in a fishing cabin, hours from home. Everyone from Wehr’s partner to his commander wants the case closed quickly as a suicide. But Sheriff Ty Dawson has questions that the evidence isn’t satisfying and he’s going to keep digging until he gets the answers.
Bottom line: Reckoning is for you if you like cheering on the underdog and calling out injustices for the sleezy, dirty lies they are.
Listen here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For Podcast
Strengths of the story. Labeled as a Ty Dawson mystery, this story fits more accurately in a conspiracy thriller genre. A conspiracy thriller is one where the protagonist investigates a crime or anomaly to ultimately find it is a small part of a much bigger story. Reckoning does begin with the discovery of Wehr’s body, but storylines of the attempted cover over by the Portland PD and the woes of an elderly rancher who is being harassed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service get equal screen time. Each of the three storylines are interesting and compelling, leaving the reader wanting to know where it is going.
This is Ty Dawson’s third story. I have not read the previous two and did not have a problem with picking the story up. If there are Easter eggs, they are subtle gifts for fans of the series that do not detract for the new reader. Because this is an established character, Dawson and the Meriweather County cast are refined and well developed.
The pacing is strong and consistent. There wasn’t a section where the story dragged or my attention waned. Dawson is juggling so much, there isn’t time for the mundane.
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Where the story fell short of ideal: Having finished the book days ago, I continue to think through the storylines and their resolutions – a testament to how into the story I was. For the most part, I was satisfied with the solutions but as is often the case for me with thrillers, I have questions.
There you have Reckoning. Buy it, read it, post a review. If conspiracy thrillers aren’t for you, recommend it to a thriller loving friend.
The Remo and her once-glamorous residents are no stranger to hard times. When Rex “Suicide” King rolls out of an elevator with his throat cut, the hardened residents barely flinch. In fact, only two people even seem to realize the situation. The house detective Joe Hall, retired NYPD, and the desk clerk, Roby, have to put the pieces together that spell murder. It’s an impossible crime in an impossible location.
For the past two seasons, Jack and I brought the amazing storytelling of our podcast to mystery readers by publishing the episodes in an anthology. We are proud to announce that this season’s anthology, Things That Go Jack In The Night, will be released on September 12, 2023.
Begin with KM Rockwood’s innocent looking package of pepper jack cheese, then sleuth your way through a lumberjack, a night Wolfman Jack never had, Jack be nimble, a one-eyed jack, a jackass, a public masterbator, a skewered jackalope, a different kind of jack-in-the-box, a deadly jackknife, and a missing jackpot to end with that always unpredictable Detective Connolly figuring out what to do with the working end of an audio jack.
Just like the podcast, the e- and print books are formatted for you to beat the detective to the solution. Happy hunting, detectives.
Deadly Depthsis a genre crosser. It can be found under Amateur Sleuth mystery and murder thriller. I would classify it as an Adventure bookended by Amateur Sleuth. Archeologist Barrington “Barry” Holmes is dead. With a slit wrist, the police rule it suicide. Holmes’s protégé, Matthew Shane, former Air Force Intelligence and current professor of law, calls bullshit. The path to resolving Holmes’s death puts him face-to-face with a voodoo curse, a notorious antiquities dealer and a three hundred-and fifty-year-old promise between the leader of the Aztec people and the famous Englishman, Captain Henry Morgan.
Bottom line: Deadly Depths is for you if you like treasure hunts, a jumble of altruistic, self-serving, and devious characters, and murder of the lowest degree.
Listen to the first chapter here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For Podcast.
Strengths of the story. There are several things to love about Deadly Depths. First in my book is the treasure seeking adventure. Lovers of Indiana Jones stories, “National Treasure”, and “The DaVinci Code” will enjoy the mix of folk lore, voodoo, pirates, and the potential of a treasure of incomparable value. The clues are cryptic yet meaningful. The locations are grounded in real history. The characters are distinct and true to their nature—for good or for bad.
The pacing is strong. Once picked up, this is a hard one to put down.
While this story does not have the time deadline common in this genre, there is a sense of being up against a ticking clock. For most of the book, there is a sense of an unseen hand manipulating the situation, creating the feeling of a race but against an invisible competitor.
.Where the story fell short of ideal:
As noted, this story crosses genres. It stands strongly but readers focusing on only one of the genres may find areas for complaining. The story begins as an Amateur Sleuth, creating the impetus for starting the Adventure. Then Adventure takes over, driving most of the book. Only after the Adventure is nearing completion is the original mystery resolved. Adverture lovers could scoff at the time to get the Adventure going. Mystery lovers could do the same for pursuit of the murder. If those genre-specific expectations are put aside, Deadly Depths is a very satisfying read.
TG Wolff 