Tag: Mysteries To Die For

M2D4 S5E10: A Shuttle to Trouble by Karina Bartow

M2D4 S5E10: A Shuttle to Trouble by Karina Bartow

TG Wolff

A new short in Karina Bartow’s Unde(a)feated Detective Series, which follows deaf detective, Minka Avery. Minka and her extended family are traveling home from a vacation in Jamaica when the loud, annoying man on the plane turns into the corpse on the shuttle that just shut down the entire airport. Minka’s hunting for a killer hiding in plain sight and she’s got to do it fast, before the Orlando PD, the FAA, and a few thousand captive travelers call time is up.

Listen here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast

M2D4 S5E9: The Maven Murder by Paul A. Barra

M2D4 S5E9: The Maven Murder by Paul A. Barra

TG Wolff

The murder of a young barmaid has gone unsolved. Cynthia Deal takes matters into her own hands, bringing together three couples, six people with motive. She had three hours and twelve minutes left in her life when she took hold of the forward line to pull it aboard the LCU Maven, laughing at the weight of the thick, water-soaked rope as it slithered then slumped with a splash into North Isle Harbor. Now there isn’t one murder to be solved, there’s two, and it’s all up to you.

Listen here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For Podcast

M2D4 S5E7 Dead Man’s Switch by Erica Obey

M2D4 S5E7 Dead Man’s Switch by Erica Obey

TG Wolff

Morgansburg, NY is a sleepy college town in the midst of a renaissance and with the good (food trucks) comes the bad (avocado toast). Beyond Professor Watson’s own opinions on the changing culinary landscape are bigger disagreements, which come to a head when the Easter Bunny is found dead in a vintage locomotive. Professor Watson and her AI program known as Doyle start hopping for clues to help Security Chief Mack Byrne solve the case. (‘Cause Security Chief’s love that kind of help.)

Listen here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For Podcast.

M2D4 Toe Tag: Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver

M2D4 Toe Tag: Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver

TG Wolff

Chaos at Carnegie Hall is a cozy, historical mystery. It is the first in the Fiona Figg / Kitty Lane mystery series, picking up the character of Fiona Figg from a separate cozy series by Kelly Oliver. It’s 1917 and Temporary British Intelligence officer Fiona Figg is sent from London to New York in pursuit of Frederick Fredericks, a smooth talking South African who is determined to undermine the British war effort. When Fredericks is arrested for murder, one crime Fiona is certain he didn’t commit, she finds her only solution is to burn the candle from both ends.

Bottom line: Chaos at Carnegie Hall is for you if you like the quirks of cozy, the nostalgia of WWI era settings, and the charm of British mysteries.

Listen to the first chapter here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast

Strengths of the story. The story is charming as it incorporates in stride details of the world as it was in 1917, both in London and New York. From the clothes to the societal rules to the politics, Choas at Carnegie Hall gives a glimpse into life as it was.

Where the story fell short of ideal: Chaos at Carnegie Hall was hard for me to wrap my arms around. I would have described it as a cozy spy novel up to about the half-way point where the mystery element began. The story is billed as the 1st in the series but it uses characters (good and bad) and makes references to the cases of the Fiona Figg books. From a reader’s stand-point, I do think it is more fairly characterized as a Fiona Figg book. Oliver does a thorough job of explaining the back story, but as is always the case, you do feel like you are jumping in at the middle rather than the beginning.

Move It or Lose It: An Anthology for Mystery Lovers

Move It or Lose It: An Anthology for Mystery Lovers

TG Wolff

Released March 21, 2023 from Mysteries to Die For, for your puzzle solving pleasure

Vehicles define eras and are a means for advancing economies from traditional to high mass-consumption. They can also play diverse roles within amazing stories.

A train was the setting for Agatha Christie’s famed Murder on the Orient Express. A river boat then took center stage on Death on the Nile. Stephan King’s Christine showed us a blood thirsty side, while in real life, the disappearance of Emelia Earhart and her plane continues to tease imaginations. Cars have been prominently featured in American crime stories with the glory of the getaway vehicle. Then there are the heists from carriages to trains to armored trucks.

Twelve different ways to move it. Twelve stories arranged for you to deduce the truth. It’s a race between you and the detective. Will you catch the culprit or be the one to lose it?  😉 (You knew it was coming.)

A charter fishing boat. An ambulance. A high-tech roadster. A flat-bed tow truck. A converted bus. A cold-war era VW. A locomotive. A prized horse. An airport shuttle. A Winnebago. A horse-drawn carriage. A roller coast train.

Original stories from Ed Teja, Chuck Brownman, Colin Conway, KM Rockwood, Craig Faustus Buck, Erica Obey, Ken Harris, Paul A Berra, Karina Bartow, Kyra Jacobs, TG Wolff, and Jack Wolff.

Paperback available from Amazon. E-book available from all digital retailers with special pricing through June 30, 2023.

M2D4 Toe Tag: The Accidental Spy

M2D4 Toe Tag: The Accidental Spy

TG Wolff

The Accidental Spy by David Gardner is a Suspense Thriller with a minor in satire. Harvey Hudson is a thinker. A professor of Big History, his niche in this world is to understand how things begin and how they end. His lackluster technical writing career began with the end of his collegiate teaching career. Breaking the top commandments for cyber security, he invites industrial espionage into his company’s servers. But, no worries, the CIA is on this…and so are the Russians. And Harvey, he’s the pinball stuck in between, working to make his own way out.

Bottom line: The Accidental Spy is for you if you like thrillers that are more intellectual than physical, where you can cheer for the underdog.

Listen to the first chapter here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Strengths of the story. Harvey Hudson is not your normal thriller hero. He’s a 56-year old thinker, not a man of action, and we meet him at a low point in his life. Yet, he is utterly likeable for his quiet rebellions (eating the skittles out of a birthday basket), his dedication to his mother (paying her mortgage while he lives in a hole), and his unwavering dreamer philosophy (his favorite question is “what if?”). He is the star. The supporting characters are distinctive and have real roles in the story. The logic of the plot holds up and all questions are resolved.  

Where the story fell short of ideal: This is a story that is a hybrid of the thriller and satire genre. The story is short on the high-speed chases and bullet riddled exchanges often expected with a thriller. Consequently, fans of series such as Jason Borne may find The Accidental Spy slow. However, if you have the sense of humor that aligns with Fletch, well, you’ll enjoy Harvey.

M2D4 Toe Tag: Hero Haters

M2D4 Toe Tag: Hero Haters

TG Wolff

Hero Haters by Ken MacQueen is a thriller. There’s a little bit of hero in all of us, but for some of us, our hero has risen to the test. Stopping a shooter in a school. Pulling a man out of a burning car. Rescuing a child from a well. In Ken MacQueen’s world, ordinary people putting others’ lives ahead of their own are honored with an award for exceptional heroism with the Sedgewick Sacrifice Medal. Quietly, one by one, the recipients are disappearing, recipients vetted by one man: Jake Ockham. As the storm of hatred and disillusion swirls, Jake is again called to the most sublime act of setting others before himself.

Bottom line:  Hero Haters is for you if you like high tension thrillers driven by twisted logic and determined heroes.

Hero Haters Prologue and Chapter 1

Strengths of the story: Hero Haters masterfully stimulates the readers feelings of urgency, angst, and “oh, shit, no.” This is one book where once you start, either you won’t put it down or you’ll put it down fast because you can’t take the intensity. The characters, good and bad, are well developed and feel like real people. The story line is truly well thought out. Ken MacQueen had to do a lot of plotting about what happened to these characters years before the story starts in order for it to be this flawless. The story moves distinctly between Washington State and Western Pennsylvania, and makes it easy to follow what is happening in the two locations.

Where the story fell short of ideal: This one doesn’t, which is unusual for me with thrillers. Usually I get to the end, look back at the story and find all kinds of contrived scenarios, plot holes, and inconsistencies between character motives and actions. That is not the case with Hero Haters. If I have to pick something as weak, I will say I had some trouble keeping the timeline straight at the start of the book. I didn’t realize this until I was about ⅔ way through and while surprising me, didn’t detract from the story.