January 2026

dumfungled: to be mentally and physically worn out [maybe the Word of the 2025?]

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The Oxford Word of the Year 2025 is ‘rage bait‘

Merriam-Webster Names “Slop” Word of the Year Amid AI Boom

Is the Dictionary Done For?

From 400-year-old globes to cosmic shrouds: A Maine library brings maps to life

RoboCop statue rises in Detroit: ‘Big, beautiful, bronze piece of art’

Linguists start compiling first ever complete dictionary of ancient Celtic

Richard Osman among authors backing call to issue library card to all UK babies

Mary, Queen of Scots, Wrote This Letter Hours Before She Was Executed. Her Words Are Going on Display for the First Time in Years

A centennial look back at Edward Gorey’s macabre art and guarded life

Swearing could give you a hidden physical edge, study finds

Want to set an intention for 2026? Use this word generator.

$James Patterson gives $500 checks to 600 booksellers

The cultural works becoming public domain in 2026, from Betty Boop to Nancy Drew – “Literary highlights include William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, the full version of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, Watty Piper’s The Little Engine that Could, the first four books of the Nancy Drew detective series and The Murder at the Vicarage, Agatha Christie’s first Miss Marple mystery.”

For years, one man complicated the official story of who murdered the civil-rights leader. Just before he died in October, he offered a jaw-dropping revelation.

Bombshell declassified docs reveal Nazi ‘Angel of Death’ was allowed to live carefree life after Auschwitz horrors: docs

‘Decapitated bodies, death threats, that’s our daily life’: Tennis players, helpless targets of angry gamblers

The Return of MAGA’s Favorite Forbidden Book

Virginia Roberts Giuffre: Epstein accuser’s memoir sells 1m copies in two months

It’s Not Always About Guns or Monsters

Md. lawmakers seek probe into Black boys buried in abandoned graveyard

US executions surged in 2025 to highest level in 16 years

Barnes & Noble Is Coming Back to Downtown Seattle

Man says its ‘possible’ his father could be notorious skyjacker D.B. Cooper

Vandals cause up to $30K in damage to Centralia Christmas light display

Ten live hand grenades found inside Olalla home, bomb squad called in

‘Stain on humanity’: County prosecutor scorns legacy of ‘South Hill Rapist’ Kevin Coe

$Six Idaho booksellers receive ‘holiday bonus’ from James Patterson

Vintage cookbook store in Portland is closing

$400,000 worth of lobsters bound for Costco locations in the US were stolen in the latest high-profile cargo theft

growlery (n): a place to retreat to, alone, when ill-humoured

Evidence That Humans Now Speak in a Chatbot-Influenced Dialect Is Getting Stronger

We would sell books by AI, says Waterstones boss

Why do bookstores make some people urgently need the bathroom?

Haunted house and invisible demons: Tennessee Williams’ early radio play ‘The Strangers’ publishes

When Asked to Generate an Alphabet Poster for Preschoolers, the Latest Version of ChatGPT Just Flails Wildly

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious (adj.) — very good, very fine. Playful 19th-century American slang.

Former CIA Agent reveals whether they can make people disappear ‘without a trace‘

A Maryland mom discovers her family’s place in history — as Pearl Harbor spies

How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device?

Former deep-cover Russian spy leads Moscow campaign to co-opt Indian tech

Librarians Are Tired of Being Accused of Hiding Secret Books That Were Made Up by AI

Librarians Dumbfounded as People Keep Asking for Materials That Don’t Exist

North Carolina Ousts Entire Library Board Over Book With Trans Kid

‘60 Minutes’ Report Was Pulled Off the Air. Now It’s on the Internet.

Parody is protected in the Pacific Northwest: A court says the University of Washington can’t punish professors for mocking land acknowledgments.

hoppopolla – Icelandic word meaning jumping into puddles

Film producer Jason Blum and author-bookseller Ann Patchett to receive PEN America awards

$James Patterson’s Maxims for a Happy Life

The Long History of the Hamnet Myth

In my game, crime pays. Do I have it in me?

A £10 tote and tilted shelves: how Daunt Books beat Amazon

Water leak in Louvre damages hundreds of books

Bookish London: Photos Of The Capital’s Love Affair With Books

‘Suddenly, it was everywhere’: why some books become blockbusters overnight

Book data reveals most readers quit almost immediately

Are we falling out of love with nonfiction?

Killing the Dead by John Blair review – a gloriously gruesome history of vampires

Geraldine Brooks takes us on a tour of her home library

‘Every few years something happens which is going to kill the book’ – How an iconic Galway bookshop continues to thrive after 85 years

Discover Buenos Aires through these 5 dazzling bookstores

The world’s best indie bookstores have been named – and one European capital is home to four [one is noted simply as “Portland”…]

Mystery Solved, Utah’s only mystery bookshop, is on the move

I worked in a bookshop for years — people bought these 7 books all the time

Dragons, Sex and the Bible: What Drove the Book Business This Year

Lewis Carroll’s Personal Copy of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ Returns to its ‘Spiritual Home’ in Oxford

Jan. 12th: Eric Heisserer, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Arrival, signs his new speculative thriller, Simultaneous, Elliot Bay, 7pm

Jan. 20: Jim Butcher signs Twelve Months, his new Harry Dresden, Powells, 7pm

Jan. 28: local author Patricia Grayhall signs her new thriller, Framed, Third Place LFP, 7pm

The Black List 2025: Matisse Haddad’s ‘Best Seller’ Leads List Of Hollywood’s Best-Liked Unproduced Screenplays

Heat at 30: Michael Mann’s electric crime thriller is a film of fire and sadness

How Did ‘Heat’ Become the Most Beloved Crime Movie of the Past 30 Years? [JB HIGHLY recommends the sequel/prequel novel by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner, Heat 2, which will be adapted into a movie.]

First look! Netflix serial killer whodunnit from “one of the greatest storytellers in crime fiction” (Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole)

Netflix’s six-part crime thriller based on true story

This Is The Greatest Murder Mystery Of All Time – Prove Rian Johnson Wrong

Netflix Sets New TV Adaptation Of Bestselling Crime Thriller Novel From ‘Mindhunter’ Writer

New Murder Mystery Series, BOOKISH, Premieres Sunday, January 11, on PBS [writer, creator and star Mark Gatiss in 1946 London]

What’s In The Box? The Cold Comfort And Cozy Gloom Of David Fincher

Kurt Sutter Noir Crime Drama In Works At MGM+

U.S. Politics & Sherlock Holmes Loom Large In BBC’s 2025 Podcast Charts

January’s must-watch streaming is packed with crime-filled thrillers

Are True-Crime Podcasts Losing Popularity?

7 Podcasts for Bookworms

frowst (v): to lounge idly in a warm, stuffy place

Nov. 30: Daniel Woodrell, ‘Country Noir’ Novelist of ‘Winter’s Bone,’ Dies at 72

Dec. 2: Eugene Hasenfus, Gunrunner Who Exposed Iran-Contra Plot, Dies at 84

Dec. 4: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘The Man in the High Castle’ Actor, Dies at 75

Dec. 7: Fern Michaels, Prolific Author of Romance Novels, Dies at 92

Dec. 10: Stephen Downing, LAPD Officer Who Wrote for TV, Dies at 87

Dec. 10: Confessions of a Shopaholic novelist Sophie Kinsella dies aged 55

Dec. 13: Peter Greene, ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘The Mask’ Actor, Dies at 60

Dec. 16: Gil Gerard, Star of ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,’ Dies at 82

Dec. 18: Peter Arnett, Pulitzer-winning war reporter, dies aged 91

Dec. 18: May Britt, Swedish Actress and Wife of Sammy Davis Jr., Dies at 91

Dec. 20: Kevin Arkadie, Co-Creator of ‘New York Undercover,’ Dies at 68

Dec. 21: James Ransone, ‘The Wire’ and ‘It: Chapter Two’ Actor, Dies at 46

Dec. 7: Businesswoman ‘kills two schoolgirls with poisoned raspberries over affair’

Dec. 8: Cold Case Inquiries Stall After Ancestry.com Revisits Policy for Users

Dec. 8: Jack the Ripper’s ‘true identity’ as experts uncover vital clue to unmask serial killer

Dec. 8: 8 Matisse Works Stolen From Library in Brazil

Dec. 9: Woman claiming to be an heiress allegedly scammed nearly $30 million from California banks, authorities say

Dec. 9: King Charles Honors Drug Addict Billionaire Who Hid Wife’s Body for Months

Dec. 10: Rare 15th-Century Jewish Prayer Book, Looted by the Nazis, to Be Sold

Dec. 11: Police seeking four men after ‘high-value burglary’ from Bristol Museum

Dec. 12: The Crime Involved Trash Bags. But It Wasn’t a Mob Caper.

Dec. 16 : Why This Famed Art Writer Turned to True Crime

☛Dec. 23: Black Dahlia and Zodiac killers ‘may have been same man’ claims amateur codebreaker

Dec. 23: Let’s Look Back at the 1978 Christmas Eve Art Heist at the de Young Museum, Where the Thieves Never Got Caught

Dec. 24: What happened next: how a shocking rape and murder case was solved – 58 years later

Dec. 25: The Mafia and the Missing Caravaggio

Dec. 25: Dordogne murder mystery: British woman’s death confounds detectives

Dec. 26: ‘Cocaine, gold and meat’: how Colombia’s Amazon became big business for crime networks

Dec. 27: FBI to move out of brutalist J Edgar Hoover building in Washington DC

☛Dec. 29: Who is Marvin Margolis? The war veteran linked to a chilling new theory about the Zodiac killer and Black Dahlia murder

Dec. 31: Thieves tunnel into bank vault, steal millions from safe-deposit boxes

Dec. 31: A glamorous LA model targeted rich old men and young women for theft, accusers say

apricity (n): warmth of the winter sun

Once again, I stood rudderless before the mystery section of my local indie bookshop, hoping to discover a new-to-me novel when, happily, I spied the cover of The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies. Intrigued by the bonnents and partially concealed weapons on the cover, I snatched it off the shelf and began perusing the first few pages.

Unsurprisingly, it came home with me.

And finished it in under a day.

From the front cover to the back, The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies hurtles forward at a breakneck speed. In a whirl of ribbons and silk, we find our heroines dancing amongst the cream of society one evening and rescuing a young wife from the clutches of her murderous husband with the aid of a highwayman (and former noble) the next. How? Well, Lady Augusta and Lady Julia Colebrook are fraternal twins of a certain age. Being above forty and unmarried during the Regency Period of English history renders these sisters largely invisible and utterly underestimated in the male-dominated world of their day.

Despite being ladies of independent means, society (and their younger brother) expect Augusta and Julia to confine themselves to their needlework, household management, and their circle of friends. However, it’s amongst this last bit, friends, where Augusta and Julia finally find their calling in aiding women and children who need it. 

Or as the sisters see it, being useful.

Although the sisters, especially Augusta, feel more akin in thought and deed to women of today (obviously, to connect the reader to the heroines), the era in which The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is set definitely does not. Goodman does a great job of showing the realities of the age without moralizing, thus allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. A feature that provides a smooth read and makes The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladiesdifficult to put down. 

Consequently, I would recommend this action-packed historical mystery to anyone who enjoys a a strong heroine facing down dire and dangerous circumstances to do what is not only right, but save those who cannot save themselves.

Double review

This is gonna be a long one because some backstory is needed, so grab a cuppa, snuggle in, and let’s go.

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let’s make this a great one, shall we? I hope your holidays were happy, not harrowing.

Okay, the backstory. You’ve noticed that I’ve been posting rerun reviews lately. Trigger warning: politics and mental illness are about to be discussed. Ready?
When Trump was elected, my anxiety kicked into overdrive and became full-on depression which meant I stopped doing a lot of stuff I’d normally do. And it hasn’t left. I’m still fighting the Black Dog.

So I stopped reading books. I’m about halfway through a really good autobiography that I’ll share with you as soon as I finish it. But for all of 2025, that’s what I read. Half an autobiography. Even I’m appalled. Craig Johnson, Mike Lawson, Cara Black, all sitting by my bedside.

And that included Louise Penny, who I can read any time any place. I picked up her book, The Grey Wolf, when it came out October of 2024. Yes, you read that right. Two years ago. And I didn’t read it right away because of health and family things, and then it was 2025. And I just stopped reading.

In a way, that worked out because The Grey Wolf is part 1 of a two part series, and I didn’t realize it, so it really worked out well. Once you read it, you absolutely HAVE to read The Black Wolf because they’re paired. I didn’t know it but my depression did me a favor.

I read The Grey Wolf in one day. Just opened it up and ignored the world for a day, and of course it was worth it because it’s Louise Penny writing about Gamache and Three Pines, and what’s not to love?

But that meant I had to dive into The Black Wolf right away because DAMN. If you know, you know.

If you’ve never read Louise Penny (and why not? Hmm?) but you like a great and terrifying political thriller that is absolutely terrifying, read The Grey Wolf and The Black Wolf. You’ll miss a lot of nuance because she references just about every earlier book, but you’ll still get the drift.

And they are terrifying because they’re so accurate and plausible. Remember, Louise Penny was a journalist before she became an author so she knows her stuff. And she has contacts. Keep in mind she wrote a book in conjunction with Hilary Clinton. She’s a journalist who understands Big Politics and storytelling.

Now, here’s the thing about publishing. The Black Wolf was published this past October, but that means it had to grind through the big publishing mill which takes about a year, so that means that Louise wrote it in 2024 and had the outline in her head before that because it’s set up in The Grey Wolf.

So when she wrote the conversation:
“It was not difficult to convince people that he’d (Saddam Hussein) helped the 9/11 conspirators and had weapons of mass destruction.”

“But he didn’t. There was absolutely no proof.”

“There doesn’t need to be proof. Fear replaces facts.”

Louise knew what she was talking about. Just like she did when she wrote:

“You’re still living in a world where truth matters, where facts are important. They aren’t anymore. They’re fluid, and we’re losing facts as fast as we’re losing water.“

So when she talks about the US making Canada the 51st State, remember, Trump wasn’t in office. Hell, no one thought he’d be elected when she wrote The Black Wolf.

I’ve said for ages now that you should read Louise Penny starting with Still Life, but if you decide to begin with The Grey Wolf and flow into The Black Wolf, you’ll go back to the beginning to catch up.

The Black Wolf is Louise Penny’s 20th Inspector Gamache book, and it’s going to kick you in the gut. Hard. And her next novel is a stand-alone co-authored with Mellissa Fung titled The Last Mandarin, which is another political thriller but Gamache isn’t involved. And if her collaboration with Hilary Rodham Clinton, State of Terror, is anything to judge by, it’ll keep you up at night too. She’s that good.

So now is the time. Read The Grey Wolf and The Black Wolf. And hope that Armand Gamache is on the case because, otherwise, we’re in trouble.

So yeah, Happy New Year!

By rights, this should go in the RIP section but I think it needs special notice and appropriate space:

Rob Reiner, ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ ‘The Princess Bride’ and ‘Stand by Me’ Director and ‘All in the Family’ Actor, Dies at 78 in Apparent Homicide

“All in the Family”‘s pilot aired Jan. 12, 1971 – don’t remember if I saw the pilot but I was 13 and watched it every week.

He acted in TV shows I often watched: “The Odd Couple”, “That Girl”, “Room 222”, “The Rockford File”, to name a few, in addition to appearing in movies in big and small roles. Then there are the gems he directed: Spinal Tap, 1984; Stand By Me, 1986; The Princess Bride, 1987; When Harry Met Sally…, 1989; Misery, 1990; A Few Good Men, 1992; The American President, 1995; Ghosts of Mississippi, 1996; Bucket List, 2004;… and many, many more.

Always difficult to digest when people like them leave us early and in a horrifying manner. The least we can do is follow his lead –


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S.A. Cosby’s 6th book is a masterful weaving of family and municipal tragedy and horror, where everyone is doomed to the echoes of their actions, past and present. Like all great noir, everyone is going to burn in the fires they stoked – intentionally or not. King of Ashes is a foreboding title – but scorchingly accurate.

This is true in the most ghastly way for the Carruthers who own the crematory in Jefferson Run, VA. It’s a family operation, built with single-focus by father Keith and run by sister Neveah. Little brother Dante is around but not counted on for nothin’. Eldest brother Roman is a big deal in Altanta’s publicity pool. Mom disappeared 18 years ago, leaving a gaping question mark in the town. Dad’s been run off the road, hospitalized with in a coma, and Rome returns home to find Dante is trouble that is threatening everything.

“It’s never too late to change things unless you’re in the dirt. But time is a wicked river., It will take you down the line before you know it.”

And it will. Fire, dirt, ash… the river of time is the only dampness they find. If you don’t count the blood.

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The Asset is, once again, a brilliant and twisty thriller, his 19th Joe DeMarco. As I say every year, I find it stunning that Mike Lawson can construct such inventive and entrancing stories. Yet he never disappoints or let’s me down.

His boss is handed explosive info about his worst political enemy, yet Congressman Mahoney hesitates to detonate it. DeMarco is dispatched to find out the truth. And, of course, DeMarco begins to gather the pieces that complete the puzzle.

Who is playing who and what it the game? DeMarco has no idea to start but he’s smarter than he – or anyone else – thinks. Credit where it is due, ’cause DeMarco doesn’t stop until he sees the whole game. And the game is forever dynamic.

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For a Noir Year of hardboiled pulp, bop over to the latest version of my image blog: old magazines (mystery, crime, true crime, and more) and paperbacks, from the 20s to, well, whatever new fits in. seattlemysteryhardboiled.com ~ have fun!

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December 2025

A Home That Proves You Can Never Have Too Many Books

As ‘Dorian Gray’ ages, its relevance only grows

Famed Florentine diamond surfaces in Canada after century-long disappearance

Video: Legendary Orient Express returns in Paris show celebrating 100 years of Art Deco

Louise Penny gives us a tour of her book collection. Her dogs come, too.

In a reading rut? How to get back into reading for fun

Superman Comic Sets Auction Record, Selling for $9.12 Million

First complete copy of the Canopus Decree in hieroglyphics found

Opsimath: a person who begins to learn late in life

Declassified MKUltra Transcripts Have Been Released. They Paint a Dark Portrait of America.

‘They’re not wolves – they’re sheep’: the psychiatrist who spent decades meeting and studying lone-actor mass killers

Mind-altering ‘brain weapons’ no longer only science fiction, say researchers

“We’re Broken”: As Federal Prisons Run Low on Food and Toilet Paper, Corrections Officers Are Leaving in Droves for ICE

Italian parliament unanimously votes to make femicide a crime

The global decline in murder, explained in one chart

Peccability: capability of sinning

Russian spy ship enters British waters and shines lasers at military pilots

Who are China’s Westminster spies?

Books, clubs and cooking classes: Colville’s new bookstore aims to be a hub for the community

Spokane library director asks public to protest proposed budget cuts

How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life

Inside Seattle’s silent book clubs

Georgetown’s Fantagraphics is a tribute to the art form of comics

How the Cop Show ‘Barney Miller’ Made Gay TV History, 50 Years Ago

The Time Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson Handled a Hells Angels Hostage Crisis

Australian prisoner sues for his ‘human right’ to eat Vegemite

Pernoctate: to stay up or out all night

Bookstores on Edge as Kremlin Sets Sights on Policing Books

Missouri court strikes down book ban law that pushed libraries to remove hundreds of titles

KAPOW! THWACK! BIFF! Sacramento considers whacking old ban on comic book sales

State Department erases 15 pages of nuclear history — with no warning

Reith lecturer accuses BBC of cowardice for censoring his remarks on Trump

Young street musicians jailed for singing anti-Kremlin songs have fled Russia, media report

Perpotation: “ordinarie drunkenesse”

Helen Garner’s diaries win 2025 Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction

French lesbian literature steps into the spotlight with new prize

The Scottish winners selected by readers for top book prize

‘Flesh’ wins 2025 Booker Prize: ‘We had never read anything quite like it’

Stirling poet secures prestigious prize in literary awards at London bookshop

Troy Henderson has won the Australian Fiction Prize for his unpublished crime thriller River City. [the prize is specifically for unpublished works…]

Authors dumped from New Zealand’s top book prize after AI used in cover designs

James Patterson Launches Prize for Debut Authors

The Artist by Lucy Steeds wins Waterstones book of the year

Vancouver’s Little Sister’s Book & Art Emporium isn’t just a bookstore — it’s a joyful battleground

‘It’s done wonders for my sex life!’: Historical fiction writer Kate Thompson spends a day at London’s first erotic fiction bookstore

Top 5 locked room mysteries, chosen by fantasy writer Tim Major

‘Reacher’ Fans Rejoice: The Esquire Q&A with Lee Child and Andrew Child

BookTok and Beyond: How Young Readers Are Reviving Physical Bookstores

Edgar Allan Poe’s Influence on Stephen King & Mike Flanagan’s Works

‘An intellectual personal trainer’ — one bookshop’s elite subscription

Feminist History for Every Day of the Year by Kate Mosse review – the women who helped change the world

American Literature Owes a Great Debt to This 20th-Century ‘Insider’

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas

NY Times: 100 Notable Books of 2025

Sarah Ferguson’s new children’s book ‘pulped’ after scrutiny over Jeffrey Epstein links

Sophie Hannah: ‘I gave up on Wuthering Heights three times’

James Patterson Is Pretty Sure Marilyn Monroe Was Murdered

I’m a bestselling author – these are the 5 greatest ‘golden age’ crime novels

Cherokee author Vanessa Lillie weaves Native history into thrilling mystery

Apatheia: freedom or release from emotion or excitement

Woody Harrelson Says There’s “Not a Chance” He’ll Do Another Season of ‘True Detective’

‘Most horrific death you could imagine’: the truth behind Netflix’s ‘Death By Lightning’ [the assassination of President James Garfield]

⚰︎Netflix’s Agatha Christie Show Gets Release Date & Trailer For Infamous 96-Year-Old Mystery Story

⚰︎On the set of the first Agatha Christie show where mysteries are solved with the internet

⚰︎Rian Johnson Is an Agatha Christie for the Netflix Age

David Harbour Sets Post-Stranger Things Role In Courteney Cox-Directed True Crime Thriller

Apple TV’s New Spy Thriller Series: ‘Safe Houses’ based on Dan Fesperman Novel

8 Most Exciting Upcoming Mystery Shows Based on Books

Idris Elba Returning for New ‘Luther’ Movie at Netflix

53 Years Later, The Godfather‘s Sneakiest Easter Egg Is Still Deeper & Darker Than Fans Realize

50 Years Later, Gene Hackman’s Underrated Crime Movie Is the Gold Standard for Detective Films

Is Matthew Rhys Playing a Fake Robert Durst on The Beast in Me?

Murder Inc: how my failed attempt to make a Zodiac Killer film took me to the dark heart of the true crime industry

Leonard Nimoy And William Shatner Teamed Up For An Iconic Spy Series Before Star Trek

52 Years Later, Ben Affleck’s Favorite Crime Classic Still Defines the Modern Heist Genre

Routineer: one that adheres to or insists on routine

Nov. 1: Tchéky Karyo, French Actor in ‘The Missing,’ ‘La Femme Nikita’, ‘Addicted to Love,’, ‘Goldeneye‘, and ‘The Patriot‘, Dies at 72

Nov. 7: John Cleary, Wounded in Kent State Shooting, Dies at 74

Nov. 7: Lee Tamahori, ‘Once Were Warriors’ and ‘Die Another Day’ Director, Dies at 75

Nov. 12: Diane Ladd, Key Role in Chinatown and Oscar-Nominated Actress in ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,’ Dies at 89

Nov. 13: William Rataczak, co-pilot of flight hijacked by D.B. Cooper, dies at 86

Nov. 24: Udo Kier, German Actor in ‘My Own Private Idaho’ and Lots of Lars von Trier Films, Dies at 81

Nov. 24: Viola Fletcher, one of the last survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, dies at 111

Nov. 29: Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88

Redame: “to love in return”

Oct. 30: If Lizzie Borden Didn’t Kill Her Wealthy Parents, Who Did?

Oct. 31: Thieves Steal More Than 1,000 Artifacts From a California Museum’s Storage Facility

Nov. 2: How a phone directory helped me track down the Yorkshire Ripper

Nov. 4: Pokémon card thieves strike in D.C. region. Can police catch them all?

Nov. 6: The Missing Kayaker

Nov. 7: A 20-minute date with a Tinder predator destroyed my life for years

Nov. 7: The hardest Working Art Thief in History

Nov. 9: Gold, guns and cartels: the battle for a billion-dollar mine

Nov. 10: 5 charged in deaths of rock icon’s daughter and famous actor’s grandson

Nov. 11: Six ancient statues stolen from Syria’s National Museum of Damascus

Nov. 12: Inside the CIA’s secret mission to sabotage Afghanistan’s opium [again?!?!?]

Nov. 14: DNA links suspected serial killer to 1988 slaying, Virginia police say

Nov. 17: She was Such a Good Bank Robber Even the FBI Admired Her

Nov. 17: OJ Simpson’s estate accepts $58M claim from Goldman family but any payment would be a fraction

Nov. 18: Neo-Nazi leader admits plot to give poisoned candy to Jewish kids in New York City

Nov. 18: Wife of Astronaut Pleads Guilty to Falsely Alleging Crime in Space

Nov. 15: Dutch operators of synthetic drug sales website will stand trial over deaths of at least 45 people

Nov. 24: ‘Godfather’ actor wildly claims Pope John Paul was killed in connection with a Vatican money-laundering scheme

Nov. 25: Four more people arrested in connection with Louvre heist

Nov. 26: Car Towed Twice in 15 Days Had a Dead Body in the Backseat

Acnestis: “The part of the back (or backbone) between the shoulder blades and the loins which an animal cannot reach to scratch”

Cursed Cocktails — S.L.Rowland

“Welcome to the enchanting world of Tales of Aedrea, where small-scale stories, low-stakes adventure, and cozy fantasy come to life within an epic, high-fantasy realm.” 

This single-sentence description of this series is what originally captured my interest. Well, that and the fact that this book revolves around cocktails, a city’s first real cocktail bar, and magic. As my reviews in recent years have established, I’m a sucker for food-based fantasies.

Fantasy books.

Books.

‘Pulling at my collar uncomfortably like an old actor in a B&W movie.’

In any case….Cursed Cocktails is the first in a series of books all set in the same realm of Aedrea. Each book follows a different set of characters, though an old favorite occasionally makes a quick cameo—for flavor.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In Cursed Cocktails, we meet Rhoren, aka Bloodbane, an umbral elf and powerful blood mage. Who, after thirty years of defending the North from behemoths and the like, has finally reached retirement. Seeking a place to rest his aching bones, as blood magic takes a massive toll on its user, Rhoren travels south to the balmy shores of Eastborne. Where he seeks and finds the next chapter of his life…Although Rhoren’s past isn’t as far removed from his present as he initially thought.

I really, really enjoyed this read. (In point of fact, I’ve reread it several times since first cracking the spine.)

Rowland describes this series as cozy fantasy, and it is. Unlike Game of Thrones, Cursed Cocktails does not contain far-reaching political machinations that frequently end in an assassination, rape, or torture. However, that does not mean Cursed Cocktails lacks action, mystery, or interest. It just means that you can immerse yourself in the book’s 275 pages without worrying about encountering the aforementioned possibly panic-inducing themes and forget for a few moments that the cat knocked over the Christmas tree again, the pile of ugly holiday sweaters that need a wash, or the fact that your yule log looks more like a rotten stick than a delectable cake.

Akin to many of the culinary- and/or mixology-based books I’ve reviewed, Cursed Cocktails seamlessly weaves the cocktail theme into the narrative. That being said, there’s one element I cannot decide whether adds to or detracts from the story — the cocktail recipes themselves. 

Rather than fitting them in at the end of the book, as books of this ilk are wont to do, Rowland places them smack dab in the story. Because of the history of these recipes, which I don’t want to spoil your enjoyment of discovering, it makes complete sense why Rowland did what they did. And while they didn’t toss me out of the narrative, I’m not sure everyone is as keen on reading recipes as I am. 

So, my advice? Just skim past and continue reading if they’re not your cup of tea because Cursed Cocktails is such a fun read! So don’t miss out!

Christmas Wishes

There’s a lot about this season that makes me nostalgic. Partly it’s the feeling of anticipation which is blunted now with an ongoing barrage, and partly it’s the memories of things that can’t (and frequently shouldn’t be) repeated like the tinsel that had to be put on the tree strand by strand and was hazardous. I miss the danger of Christmas.

And while I’m missing things, I also am grateful for a lot of things. One of those things is that I have a copy of Ken Harmon’s The Fat Man: A Tale of North Pole Noir, which is so out of print that it’s right up there with the lead tinsel and bubble lights on the tree.


“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean…and who wears jingle bells on his curly-toed shoes and stands about two-foot three. A man who is, in other words, an elf. But don’t let the green tights and stocking cap fool you: Gumdrop Coal is the roughest, toughest punisher of the naughty since Mike Hammer, even if he does smell like peppermint and fresh-baked cookies.“

But Gumdrop’s sitting at the bar, hitting the nog because the Fat Man himself fired him. Why? Maybe one too many lumps of coal in a stocking. Maybe it’s blaming parents for failing to keep their brats in line.

Or maybe there’s a conspiracy afoot. But when a parent is shot in the eye by a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model BB gun, well, Gumdrop is the perfect fall guy. But you should never underestimate an elf with an eye for the naughty and a need to punish the bad guys, even if he is kind of small and smells of eggnog.

If you can find this book, read it. Treasure it. Ever since Amber introduced me to Gumdrop, he’s been my touchstone for the holiday season. Feeling down? Gumdrop’s got you covered. Need a new perspective? Gumdrop’s the man. Need a little vengeance? You can always count on Gumdrop Coal.

I hope you have a fabulous holiday season and a great New Year. But keep a little Coal on hand for just in case!

In light of Ken Burns’ recently aired series, I’m taking a page from Fran and re-posting a review from last June – maybe this is a better time for it! Atkinson was one of the “faces” in “The American Revolution”. It was one of the Top Ten Books of my year.

I’ve read and reviewed a number of books by British historian Antony Beevor, books about significant battles in WWII. I’ve likened his writing to another favorite historian, Shelby Foote and his staggeringly great Civil War trilogy. I’ve now read a third historian who is their equal: Rick Atkinson.

A few weeks ago I read a column about him and his new hardcover, the second in a trilogy covering the Revolutionary War. So I went right out and bought the first, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775 – 1777. As with Foote and Beevor, his writing is fluid and bright, the flow is smooth and the history comprehensive – AND entertaining and educational but not in the least bit dreary.

What was surprising was how much disease played a roll in the strength of the fighting forces, much as it did in the Civil War, but how difficult it was for the British to get supplies and replacements from across the Atlantic, in addition to orders. In other wars, the British could “live off the land”, so to speak. In the colonies, they couldn’t. In colonists had a hard time doing it, let alone the Crown’s forces.

While Atkinson does touch on the Congress in Philadelphia and Franklin in Paris, this is a book about war, the blood and mud, where and how the famous names became involved, the daring wins and botched losses. At times, it is very clear how close the Continental army and militias were close to losing the war. It is very clear how Washington was not a great general, at first. But he makes clear that the colonists were well-served by their leaders, and Washington grew into perhaps the finest they had.

Can’t wait for volume #2 to come out in paperback. It’s available in hardcover, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777 – 1780.

☜☞

For a New Year of noir and hardboiled pulp, jump over to the latest iteration of my image blog: old magazines (mystery, crime, true crime and more) and paperbacks, from the 20s to, well, whatever new fits in. seattlemysteryhardboiled.com

BEST OF THE NEW YEAR TO ALL. MAY IT BE BETTER IN ALL WAYS THAN 2025

Thanks for sticking with us for another year. If you like what we do, please spread the word!

November 2025

Fool me once: the magical origin of the word hoax

People Are Just Learning What The ‘Most Complex’ Word In English Is, And Huh

How a Community of Readers Saved Their Book Festival

A lost work by Virginia Woolf will be published for the first time

Murdle Jigsaw Puzzles Blend Pieces With Logic

8 fascinating collectibles spotted at a rare books fest, including an 1882 L.A. phonebook

Writing, Thinking, and Falling in Love in Another Language

The Freak: script of Charlie Chaplin’s unfinished final film to be published

Scientists May Have Decoded the Mysterious Language of a Lost City

How Montblanc helped take Letters Live to greater heights: The global phenomenon pays homage to the enduring power of writing and literary correspondence — a perfect fit for the historic stationery brand

The Hunt for the World’s Oldest Story

Italian blasphemy and German ingenuity: how swear words differ around the world

Mary Shelley Invented Science Fiction—and Pioneered Polyamory Too

9 inviting bookstores ready for you to attack their shelves

Does using big words make you a snob?

Agatha Christie’s first published work discovered after 120 years

Every era believes it is enlightened. Old books teach us otherwise.

Dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year Is…

Frigify – to get us ready for Winter: To make cold or frigid.

A Program Backed By the Gun Industry Failed to Reduce Suicide — And Was Secretly Shut Down Early

My Northwest: Guns remained leading cause of death for ages 11-18 in 2022

Mexican and Colombian drug cartels infiltrate Ukrainian military

‘Every kind of creative discipline is in danger’: Lincoln Lawyer author on the dangers of AI

America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy

Lengthy Execution by Nitrogen Gas in Alabama Renews Concerns Over Method

Revealed: Israel demanded Google and Amazon use secret ‘wink’ to sidestep legal orders

Amazon Is the World’s Biggest Online Book Marketplace. It’s Filled With AI Knockoffs

Rise of the Killer Chatbots

My Book Was Stolen by an AI Company. Why Does Suing Them Feel Wrong?

China, Russia use ‘asymmetric advantage,’ unleash sex warfare to seduce US tech execs, steal secrets: report

CIA tried to recruit Winston Churchill to broadcast Cold War propaganda into the Soviet Union

Declassified MKUltra Transcripts Have Been Released. They Paint a Dark Portrait of America.

Lethophobia – a fear of oblivion

Journalists at 3 Alaskan newspapers quit over edits to a Charlie Kirk story

Republicans Caught Using Fake Image to Lie About Portland “Riots”

In Skagit County Juvenile Detention, teens change their lives through writing

Village Books in Bellingham is a community hub for readers and authors

Western intelligence agencies eye neo-fascist fight clubs: ‘an international white supremacist movement’

Hackers stole data from British nursery schools — then apologized to parents

Letter: Butch Cassidy lived long after the famous gunfight in South America

Hunter S Thompson’s death to be reviewed 20 years on

I Was Doing A Book Signing In Europe. The Last Woman In Line Said 3 Words That Changed My Life Forever.

‘Very significant’ Jack Kerouac story discovered after mafia boss auction

Long-lost John Lennon interview reveals US phone-tapping fears

‘Society needs monsters’: why are Americans so obsessed with the idea of serial killers?

Sluberdegullion – In the 1600s you’d be known as a sluberdegullion, as a slovenly, dirty, or worthless human. [Appears in a Genesis song, “The Colony of Slippemen” on Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: “Slubberdegullions on a squeaky feet“]

‘Rampant’ Book Bans Are Being Taken for Granted, Free Speech Group Warns

Hundreds of celebrities relaunch a McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech

Red States Are Leading The Effort to Ban Books — And Now The Government Is Joining In

A Half Century of American Book Banning

‘We just want to celebrate stories.’ Observing Banned Books Week with a Seattle bookseller

Library director fired over LGBTQ+ books gets $700,000 from county

Penis costume arrest raises constitutional concerns amid library dispute in Fairhope

Texas Can’t Force Book Vendors To Rate Books According to Sexual Content, District Court Decides

Resistentialism – a little more “recent” (as in 1940’s), this phrase refers to malevolent behavior that would be displayed by inanimate objects.

Sarah Hall and Charlie Porter among writers on ‘genre-defying’ Goldsmiths prize shortlist

Where writers write: 12 Booker Prize 2025 nominees share their writing spots

Hungarian master of absurdist excess László Krasznahorkai wins Nobel literature prize

Here are the finalists for the 2025 National Book Awards

Booker prize launches £50000 children’s award | Books

Barnes and Noble Names Book of the Year Finalists

Mick Herron regrets the Slow Horses he’s killed off

The Thriller Writer Who Took on a Tech Giant

From ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ to ‘Bosch,’ Michael Connelly’s Florida past ‘has paid off for’ him

‘Stay true to yourself – and fly closer to the sun’: what I’ve learned from 50 years of rejection

Book wholesaler Baker & Taylor Prepares Plan to Shut Down

They’re Cheerleaders for the Best Books You’ve Never Heard Of

‘Time to take the big leap’: Reese Witherspoon’s first novel [with co-author Harlan Coben] hits the shelves

‘A glimpse of genius’: what do unpublished stories found in Harper Lee’s apartment tell us about the To Kill a Mockingbird author?

Review: The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee review – newly discovered stories from an American great

John Updike Called His Letters Dull. They’re Anything But.

New James Bond author agrees to write book on 1 condition

My dad was 1 of UK’s most famous authors – this is why I use his name for my own books

In her latest mystery, Laura Lippman — and Mrs. Blossom — bloom

How a family-run mystery bookstore is thriving in the age of BookTok

‘It would be a great loss’: London’s oldest Islamic bookshop at risk of closure

A smuggled book changed his life. Now he’s built 500 prison libraries.

Great Locked-Room Mystery Novels: The thriller writer Hank Phillippi Ryan recommends seemingly impossible, deeply satisfying whodunits.

Tales of the Impossible by Bill Pronzini: Amusing, ingenious and endlessly surprising – book review –

Simon & Schuster seeks $1.275 million from famed mystery writer Nelson DeMille’s estate

Nov. 6: Noelle Ihili signs Ask for Andrea, Powell’s 7pm

Nov. 11: Phillip Margolin signs False Witness, Powell’s, 7pm

How do you celebrate James Bond Day when you don’t know who the next 007 will be?

Amazon drops gun-free James Bond poster artwork from Prime Video streaming site

I finally figured out why we stream so much true crime

Hulu’s Ellen Greenberg documentary may be graphic, but it wants you to grapple with the same questions her family has since 2011

William Petersen On The Car Chase In 1985’s ‘To Live and Die in L.A.’

Malcolm McDowell: ‘I would be a total disaster as a spy – I do love to gossip’

Michelle Pfeiffer Recalls Bloody Incident With Al Pacino That Landed Her ‘Scarface’ Role

IRON MAN 3 Director Shane Black Still Wants to Bring DOC SAVAGE to the Big Screen

➥The Last 60 Seconds Of Mindhunter Are Proof That Netflix Made A Mistake

➥Did Monster: The Ed Gein Story Just Connect to Mindhunter?

‘Murder Most Unladylike’ Books to Be Adapted for TV

Classic 1990s crime drama moves closer to getting sequel

The JOHN WICK Universe Is Getting a Samurai Western Film

Bradley Cooper to Star Opposite Margot Robbie in ‘Ocean’s’ Prequel

⚰︎Were their body parts used in satanic rituals? Netflix tackles the horrific ‘Monster of Florence’ murders (remember: Fran highly recommended the book!)

⚰︎In ‘The Monster of Florence,’ a Hunt for Italy’s Most Famous Serial Killer

Edward Gorey Killed His Darlings 

Sopranos creator David Chase to write HBO limited series on CIA drug program

This Film Noir With 100% On RT Has An All-Time Great Villain You Will Never Forget

Sherlock Holmes Creator Arthur Conan Doyle Gets Indo-British Period Drama

‘Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers’: Four Things We Learned

‘Fallen Angels’: The Lost Showtime Series That Hinted at the Future of Prestige TV

From ‘Slow Horses’ to ‘Down Cemetery Road’: Why Mick Herron is TV’s new favourite author

Curmuring – remember that day you had an important meeting and no time to grab a bite to eat beforehand? And then just at the moment the director got up to speak your stomach gave a proper, loud rumbling? That’s curmuring!

Oct. 3: Jim Mitchum, ‘Thunder Road’ Actor and Son of Robert Mitchum, Dies at 84

Oct. 4: Remo Girone, Italian Actor in ‘La Piovra’ and ‘Ford v Ferrari,’ Dies at 76

Oct. 6: John Woodvine, British Stage Veteran and ‘American Werewolf in London’ Actor, Dies at 96

Oct. 8: Joseph Herbert, Who Helped Catch Copycat Zodiac Killer, Dies at 68

Oct. 11: Diane Keaton, ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘The Godfather’ Actress, Dead at 79

Oct. 14: Milton Esterow Pioneering Investigative Art Journalist Dies at 97

Oct. 14: Drew Struzan, Iconic Movie Poster Artist and Favorite of Spielberg and Lucas, Dies at 78

Oct. 17: Samantha Eggar, Oscar-Nominated Actress in ‘The Collector,’ Dies at 86

Oct. 25: June Lockhart, Beloved Mom on ‘Lassie’ and ‘Lost in Space,’ Dies at 100

Oct. 28: Prunella Scales, Actress in ‘Fawlty Towers,’ Dies at 93

Sept. 29: Bonnie and Clyde emerge from hiding 90 years after their crime spree

Oct. 5: A Missouri park will soon memorialize the lynching of John Buckner, 131 years later

Oct. 6: Self-Taught Thieves Keep Blowing Up ATMs—And Walking Away With Millions

Oct. 7: The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist

Oct. 8: Museum owner issues major warning to anyone who looks up Ed Gein as she shares reality ignored in new show

Oct. 10: Alleged ‘kill team’ face court after arrest en route to hit near Sydney daycare

Oct. 14: Mayor forced to respond to ‘serial killer’ theories after 16 bodies found in same body of water

Oct. 15: DNA from discarded straw leads to indictment of murder suspect after 41 years

Oct. 15: Gavin Newsom again denies parole for Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel

Oct. 16: A C.I.A. Secret Kept for 35 Years Is Found in the Smithsonian’s Vault

Oct. 21: 50 Years Ago, A Sexual Predator Roamed My Town. It Was Only Recently That I Realized How Intimately I Knew Him.

Oct. 25: New Jersey officer charged after going for pizza instead of responding to shooting

Oct. 28: The Candy Cane Park Murder Was Almost Solved. But Then …

Oct. 31: Sixty years after tourist stole skull from cathedral, he sends it back

Art Heist !!!!

Oct. 16: Spanish police investigate as Picasso painting vanishes on way to exhibition

Oct. 19: ‘Priceless’ jewellery stolen from Louvre in rapid heist, says French minister – video

Oct. 20: The Louvre’s history of burglaries

Oct. 21: Museum robbery sees 2000 gold and silver coins stolen

Oct. 21: Museum heists have changed. Why the Louvre robbery is a worrying escalation

Oct. 22: A film about an audacious art heist? ‘Inside The Mastermind’, the timeliest movie ever

Oct. 24: Still life that never moved: mystery of missing Picasso painting solved

Oct. 25: ‘It’s Got to Be an Inside Job’: Jewelry Thieves Weigh In on Louvre Heist

Oct. 25: Ex-bank robber: ‘I warned Louvre about security before jewel heist’

Oct. 25: Louvre robbery got you feeling heisty? Here are 20 films to scratch that itch

Oct. 30: California museum’s collection looted: Over 1,000 items stolen in early morning heist

Oct. 31: Fourteen police officers among 20 arrested in Mississippi drug bribery sting

Fuzzle – As we head into the Huge Holidays, a word to use. In the 1910s friend would gather and get fuzzled to have a good time – drunk or intoxicated.

Liza Tully — The World’s Greatest Detective And Her Just Okay Assistant

Admittedly, this mystery and I made it to the register mainly because the title elicited a laugh. Undoubtedly, just as the author, agent, and publisher planned. Happily, the title wasn’t the only clever thing about this book.

The World’s Greatest Detective And Her Just Okay Assistant is not only a solid mystery, but it also shows the growing pains between a seasoned detective and a shiny new assistant. Bringing to mind how Watson struggled with Sherlock’s tactics, before he started understanding the method behind the madness.

Which brings me to my only real criticism of the book.

Somewhere along the way, someone decided to boil this dynamic of an amateur, mystery-book-loving, eager assistant and a seasoned, exacting, famed detective down to a prosaic Gen Z vs. Boomer dynamic. Luckily, this trope only really reared its head once. In a clunky encounter, our two ladies, Olivia Blunt and Aubrey Merritt, actually discuss this generational friction over lunch. Though this episode only lasts a couple of pages and Tully lands the dismount pretty well whilst making some good points — the discordant note did forcibly eject me from the narrative.

But don’t let this bit of criticism hold you back from reading The World’s Greatest Detective And Her Just Okay Assistant.

Watching Olivia cope with Merritt’s demands, leap to conclusions, and stumble over clues is a lot of fun! Making it plain to see that devouring mysteries, thrillers, and true crime books doesn’t necessarily prepare their readers for a real-life investigation, and I cannot underscore enough the hilarity that this chasm creates.

Even better? Tully gives her audience a couple of breadcrumbs to spark curiosity about who exactly is Merritt’s housekeeper and who is sending the detective romantic notes. Plus, the chaos that will undoubtedly ensue in the run-up to Olivia’s wedding.

I would recommend The World’s Greatest Detective And Her Just Okay Assistant to anyone looking to get in on the ground floor (I’m assuming) of a new mystery series that will only get better with time.

Add this day to your calendar

There are a great many days to celebrate throughout the year and it’s possible that in the onslaught you might have missed this one.

I’m writing this on October 28th, so when you read this, you’ve already missed it BUT you have next year to look forward to. And there’s no reason not to celebrate late. I’m sure it works.

In addition to being National Chocolate Day (which is pretty much every day for me), October 28th is Samuel Johnson Day. Who is Samuel Johnson? Well, you have to ask John Connolly, who introduced him in one of my absolute favorite books, The Gates.

Samuel is proactive and brilliant. It’s not his fault that a chunk breaks off the Hadron Supercollider and lands in the basement of one of his neighbor’s houses, opening a gate to Hell.

But Samuel, ably assisted by his dachshund, Boswell, are up to the task of protecting his town. Probably. Maybe. No, I’m sure of it, although things will be difficult and dangerous.

Okay, because it’s John Connolly writing, you know it’s going to be fast-paced and exciting, but what you may not realize is that there’s a lot of useful information packed into this trilogy. Yes, this is the first in a trilogy. Yes, all three are available so you don’t have to wait. No, I don’t see the point in mentioning the others because you’re going to be halfway through The Gates when you order them.

So yes, I’m sorry this is getting to you late, but think of all the joy you’ll have preparing for next October 28th!

My reading was very scattered in October. Caught up on a Michael Connelly that had recently came out in mass market – The Waiting. Brilliant, as always. I do not understand how someone can be so creative after 40 novels. This one features Renee Ballard and Maddie Bosch.

After hearing her interviewed by Jon Stewart, I skipped out to buy Jill Lepore’s new history, We the People: A History of the Constitution. It’s is fascinating but at 720 pages – engrossing as they are – it’s gonna take me a while to finish it.

Since that’s a monster to lug around and difficult to read in bed, I picked up Another Kind of Eden, James Lee Burke’s latest with Aaron Holland Broussard. It is set in southern Colorado in the very early 60s…

but then there was also that whole Mariners in the Playoffs distraction – – – so you get a sense of just how scattered a month it was!

⇇⇇⇇⇇⇇⇉⇉⇉⇉⇉

For noirish nourishment of hardboiled pulp, jump over to the latest iteration of my image blog: old magazines (mystery, crime, true crime and more) and paperbacks, from the 20s to, well, whatever new fits in. seattlemysteryhardboiled.com

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IF YOU LIKE WHAT WE DO, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

We know how it feels – – – –

National Guard Already Lost at Powell’s Books

By The Needling, Seattle’s Only Real Fake News

Within hours of arriving in war-ravaged Portland, hundreds of National Guard troops are reportedly already lost at Powell’s Books.

“What floor is this? Show yourselves, Antifa! And the exit, please,” said one scared, trapped soldier before firing several rounds into a memoir of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. “Got ‘em. Still don’t know how the fuck to get out of here though. I CAN’T READ HELLLP!!”

While reinforcements have already been ordered to arrive in the city soon, National Guard leaders admit they’re being extra cautious and only sending in their most elite squads on a rescue mission to save the troops from the giant, labyrinthine book store.

“If our brave troops can weather whatever bookstore version of Night at the Museum they’re about to face overnight without accidentally getting bewitched by Jane Austen, I think we have a chance at finding them still alive by dawn,” said General Theo Bahn. “Apparently some Portland civilians are also trapped inside, freaking out, and pleading for help but mostly because they can’t believe the bookstore owner is selling merch designed by AI instead of a local independent artist. No matter where you look or who you are, you have to ask what is this godforsaken world coming to?”

At press time, Seattle confirmed it’s ready to direct any National Guard troops potentially headed their way next straight into the treacherous aisles of Pike Place Market.

October 2025

See Thomas Jefferson’s Handwritten Copy of the Declaration of Independence

See the Entire U.S. Constitution on Display for the Very First Time in History

A Nigerian group attempts a 431-hour reading marathon to set a Guinness World Record

Need A Break? Forget Yoga Retreats, Go On A Library Sleepover

Autograph book with signatures from the Beatles and the Stones to be sold

Rare tablet like the Rosetta Stone found in ancient Egypt

Early versions of Peter Rabbit, Thomas The Tank Engine and The BFG to be sold

Who Dunnit? The London Home Of Legendary Crime Writer Hits The Market

Einstein’s handwritten encyclopedia entry could fetch $200,000

Unpublished Raymond Chandler short story to appear in literary magazine

A Lost Novella by Elmore Leonard With a Social-Justice Bent

Centuries-old map returned to Mexico after librarian’s discovery

Hard pass. Cold brew. Dad bod. Merriam-Webster adds over 5,000 words to ‘Collegiate’ dictionary

The 100-year-old books salvaged from Venice’s floods

Restoring the Sound, if Not the Fury, of William Faulkner’s Piano

Twattle : to gossip

Why today’s publishers fear Goodreads more than government

Apple sued by authors over use of books in AI training

After Nazi looted art surfaces in Argentina, experts warn Van Gogh, Raphael and 100k other works still being hoarded

A History of Violence

AI could never replace my authors. But, without regulation, it will ruin publishing as we know it

230 dead Black boys. A ‘secret cemetery.’ Officials knew, and didn’t act.

Seattle school librarian remembered as ‘heart’ of the school

WA to consider release of Spokane ‘South Hill Rapist’

Washington’s constitution gets a rare public viewing in Spokane

Four people arrested in Washington after alleged hate crime attack on trans woman

Washington State Book Award 2025 Winners Announced

Honduran nationals extradited for running Portland fentanyl drug ring

Travis Decker confirmed dead through DNA results

Cold case found? Body unearthed is Oregon’s oldest unidentified person case

Award-winning WA distillery says thieves took 12,000 whiskey bottles

This Public Bathroom in a Sleepy English Village Was an Epicenter for Cold War Espionage

The Manhattan Well: How Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton United to Solve a Murder Mystery

Lawyer reveals one word that’s a ‘giveaway’ someone is lying

The Word “Enshittification” Is Going Viral, And Here’s What That Means

Britain confronts rash of robberies of Jellycats, a posh plush toy

Timothy Han Returns With Imprint, a Fragrance Collection Inspired by Cult Classic Books

Sketch Saved ‘Monty Python’ Star While Held at Gunpoint

A real Thursday Murder Club? How a team of crime fiction writers tried to save the genre (and solve crimes)

Here Lies Charlotte Temple, the Woman Who Never Existed

Did an Enslaved Chocolatier Help Hercules Mulligan Foil a Plot to Assassinate George Washington?

The Florida Divorcée’s Guide to Murder: Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors inspired a triple murder and led to a major First Amendment case. Still, the book is just one chapter in the bizarre story of its author, “Rex Feral,” a 77-year-old great-grandmother wrestling with decades of guilt and living anonymously—until now.


Snoutfair: It refers to a good-looking person and comes from the 1500s

Warsaw opens metro station ‘express’ library to get commuters off their phones

North Korea executing more people for watching foreign films and TV, UN finds

Tainted love: how Ukrainians are ridding themselves of Russian-language books

Alberta premier says new order banning school library books with sexual content coming soon

Alberta redrafts school book ban, limits it to explicit images

Russian booksellers face legal minefield over new ‘foreign agent’ rules

Tipper Gore, Twisted Sister and the fight to put warning labels on music

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder resigns, says parent company “silenced” activism

ABC Suspends ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ “Indefinitely” Over Charlie Kirk Shooting Comments

Brabble: when you hear two people having a rather loud argument in public, they were brabbling over something inconsequential.

Bloody Scotland Reveals the Winners of the McIlvanney Prize and the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2025

The Giller Prize Presents its 2025 Longlist

Finalists for the 2025 Kirkus Prize Revealed

Sally Rooney unable to collect award over Palestine Action arrest threat

Hilary Mantel championed emerging writers – a new prize in her memory will help them get published

Meet the Winners of the 2025 Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize

The Bejewled ‘Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam’ at the Bottom of the Ocean

Codex Gigas: Who Drew the Devil in This Massive Medieval Bible?

Barnes & Noble to acquire Books Inc., saving 174-year-old store from bankruptcy

Interview: Slow Horses author Mick Herron: ‘I love doing things that are against the rules’

By the Book: Mick Herron: What I’m Reading (and Why ‘Wind in the Willows’ Scares Me)

She Won the Booker Prize. Then She Disappeared for 20 Years.

The Scottish crime author approached by James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli

Why Barnes & Noble is buying indie chains like Books Inc. and Tattered Cover

Working with Starling Lawrence, who died last month, was a bracing course in a vanishing art

As a Booker prize judge I helped whittle 153 books down to a shortlist of six. Here’s why you should read them

Slow Horses author Mick Herron says he knows how Jackson Lamb dies

‘She wrote the best first line – and the most chilling stories’: Stephen King on the dark brilliance of Daphne du Maurier

Review: ‘Guilty by Definition’ is the perfect mystery for word lovers

Oct. 7: Gigi Little signs Who Killed One the Gun? , Powell’s, 7pm

The Best Crime TV Shows You’ve Probably Never Even Heard Of

65 Years Later, This Sherlock Holmes Replacement Show’s Modern Reboot Is Missing What Made the Original Great (& Fans Aren’t Happy)

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Reunite as Narcs on the Edge in The Rip

This Martin Scorsese Horror Movie Has a Secret Connection to a 93% RT Noir Masterpiece

Michael Connelly Drama Inspired By His Crime Reporter Days In Works At Paramount TV Studios

Joseph Kosinski’s ‘Miami Vice’ Movie Lands August 2027 Release Date, Casting Underway

How Harlan Coben took over Netflix

Se7en at 30: David Fincher’s devilish thriller is a chilling immersion in evil

The greatest movie car chases, ranked

Beef-witted: A 1590’s word refers to something stupid.

Sept 1: Graham Greene, ‘Dances With Wolves’, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile, and Wind River, Actor, Dies at 73

Sept. 7: Ruth Paine, Who Gave Lodging to Marina Oswald, Dies at 92

Sept. 16: Thomas Perry Dies at 78; Writer of Popular, Unconventional Thrillers

Sept. 16: Robert Redford dies at 89

Sept. 23: Claudia Cardinale actress in The Professionals & ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’ dies at 87

Sept. 25: Sara Jane Moore, Would-Be Assassin of President Ford, Dies at 95

Sept. 26: Robert B. Barnett, Washington Master of the Book World Megadeal, Dies at 79

Sept. 28: Terry Farrell, architect who designed MI6 building, dies

Sept. 1: Starvation cult behind 400 deaths killing again despite leader’s arrest, police fear

Sept. 3: Judge makes blockbuster DNA decision in Gilgo Beach ‘serial killer’ case against Rex Heuermann

Sept. 3: The Fatal Ponzi Scheme That Rocked Hollywood

Sept. 5: John Lennon’s killer denied parole for 14th time

Sept. 7: ‘The Manson Family murdered my sister. Now my life is spent keeping them in prison’

Sept. 8: Man Who Tried to Smuggle 600 Looted Ancient Egyptian Artifacts in Three Checked Suitcases Is Going to Prison

Sept. 11: Inside the mind of a white-collar criminal

Sept. 12: European operation identifies alleged Belarusian spy ring

Sept. 1`3: Reading for release: Uzbekistan to free prisoners early if they finish chosen books

Sept. 13: Rolling Stone, Billboard owner Penske sues Google over AI overviews

Sept. 18: RCMP executes record seizure of more than 56 million dollars in cryptocurrency

Sept 18: Rare Gold Nuggets Worth $700,000 Stolen From Paris’ Natural History Museum in Brazen Heist

Sept. 19: Thieves Steal and Destroy Solid Silver Statue of Abraham Lincoln Created by Mount Rushmore Sculptor Gutzon Borglum

Sept. 22: Robert Redford’s death renews search for suspect in murder of daughter’s boyfriend

Sept. 22: Her rape was unsolved for decades. The suspects were identical twins.

Sept. 26: Infamous Yogurt Shop Murders May Be Solved—34 Years Later

Quockerwodger: from the 1850s, this funny-sounding English term referred to a wooden puppet that was controlled by strings, such as present day politics!

Sarah Beth Durst — The Enchanted Greenhouse

Hope is a four-letter word. 

Found at the bottom of Pandora’s box, it gives a reason not to give up, to persevere, to keep going — even in the face of insurmountable odds. Orpheus defeated Lucifer with hope in their duel (in season one of Sandman). Yet, hope can be just as cruel as its fellow curses that it existed amongst in that (in)famous box, especially when a desperate plea for help goes unanswered.

In this case, the plea comes from the lone gardener on the island of Bedle who tends to the extensive and extraordinary greenhouses on Bedle.

And they are dying.

One by one, the magic that’s meant to keep these rooms of exotic plants, pedestrian vegetables, and magical herbage thriving is now failing, turning, and destroying what it once kept safe. Compounding the problem, the mage who created the magical menagerie of chlorophyll based life forms died, and, even worse, with revolution in the capital city, no one seems interested in saving this breathtaking creation.

Well, almost no one.

Enter the wooden statue that once graced the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alysium. Once, a cautionary tale told to new librarians who might find themselves tempted to dabble in magics forbidden to all save a select few.

Now, she’s Bedle’s singular hope of survival.

The follow-up book to The Spellshop did not disappoint. Not only do you learn more about Caz’s (the sentient spider plant and main character in The Spellshop) history, but you also get a much better sense of why the revolutionaries defenestrated the Emperor of the Crescent Island Empire. 

Moreover, the snow-capped trees, wondrous rooms of impossible plants, and a cozy cottage filled with the aromas of freshly baked bread, cake, and quiche make this a genuinely snug as a bug in a rug, fantasy book. However, lurking within the warm heart is mystery, corruption, and cruelty that needs weeding out lest they destroy the aforementioned coziness. And it’s this tension betwixt these two polar opposites which Sarah Beth Durst deftly weaves together to create The Enchanted Greenhouse.

Admittedly, when I originally read The Enchanted Greenhouse, I judged The Spellshop the better of the two books. 

However, on subsequent readings (yes, plural), I think this initial opinion arose due to the anxiety and internal conflict felt by one of the main characters over doing what’s right, despite their very real fears. As this conflict hits close to home, as my brain’s a real jerk sometimes, I think this is what spawned my original opinion. One that I’ve since revised, obviously, viewing both books as equally fantastic reads!

Though you don’t have to read The Spellshop prior to picking up The Enchanted Greenhouse, I suggest you do. Not only will you get the absolute most out of both books, you’ll have a few hours, days, or weeks (depending on how fast you read) of happiness, joy, magic, jam, and bread.

P.S.: I’m absolutely beside myself as Sarah Beth Durst wrote a third book in this series of loosely connected tales! Sea of Charms is coming out in July 2026, and I cannot wait!

It’s got enough magickal type stuff to qualify (marginally) as a spooky story, but mostly it’s huge fun and brilliantly written. Here’s what I originally said:

I was looking for something fun, fast-paced, a little light-hearted, and entertaining.

The White Magic Five and Dime (Midnight Ink tpo, $14.99) by Steve Hockensmith and Lisa Falco was just the thing!

Alanis McLachlan gets a serious surprise. Her mother, from whom she has been estranged for over 20 years, left her an inheritance – a tiny, New Agey shop in Berdache, Arizona. Alanis doesn’t trust this gift from her mother with good reason – Athena was a master con artist. There’s always a catch, there’s always a mark, and Alanis is pretty sure her mother is setting her up as payback for her desertion, but Alanis is baffled as to how this last con is going to play out.

Further complications arise when Athena’s death is called into question by the local sheriff, who has a disturbingly distracting effect on Alanis, and then there’s the small matter of the teenager living in Athena’s apartment. Alanis has to figure out who might want Athena (if that’s her real name anyway) dead, and unsurprisingly, there are lots of suspects. After all, using tarot decks is a con, isn’t it?

The White Magic Five and Dime is completely delightful, and I do hope Steve Hockensmith and Lisa Falco come back to this place and these people. (SPOILER: They do, and it’s great!) Alanis is smart and funny and wistfully hopeful for one as cynical as she was raised to be. I like her a lot. And the other characters that populate Berdache are wonderfully diverse and quirky in the way you only get from small towns. For those of you who don’t like “woo-woo” aspects to stories, there’s really very little of the metaphysical going on here, although the possibility is certainly out there. But this tale is all about the people and how they do or don’t play nicely  with each other. And I have to say, there are some brilliant and glorious twists that I absolutely did not see coming, which made The White Magic Five and Dime even more wonderful!

So that’s what I said, and I meant it.

And, as someone who’s read tarot for, gee, decades I guess, I loved, loved, loved their handling of the decks. But mostly I loved Alanis and Berdache.

FIND THEM ALL! Read them all in one sitting! Okay, maybe two. There are three books in the series: this one, Fool Me Once, and Give the Devil His Due. They’re out there. Go get ’em.

“The high note seemed so insane that Kinnick could only laugh. Any questions? How about: What the Hell? White Nationalist goons stealing children from church parking lots? Rural sheriffs telling him to go pound sand? A maniac ex-cop showing him how to shoot people in the front pocket? Was this just how people behaved now? Is this what the would had come to? Seven years in the woods only to emerge and find everything had gotten crazier?”

Brilliant, as usual. Jess Walters latest novel, So Far Gone, is, as usual, brilliant. It is funny and heartbreaking, altogether human and humane. Kinnick left everything behind and lives in the woods outside of Spokane on his grandfather’s sheep ranch that never had any sheep. He no longer remembers how old his grandchildren are. Hasn’t spoken to his daughter in years after punching out her idiot husband. But the world, and all of it’s wonders and madness, crashes back into his pitiful, racoon-bothered existence in the form of those grandkids bearing the news his estranged daughter has vanished. He’ll travel the Spokane valley to attempt to re-assemble his family of strangers.

“All cruelty springs from weakness. Seneca said that, along with : Ignorance is the cause of fear. Kinnick had always believed these adages to be true, but now, bleeding on the ground… wondered if Seneca might have been a little silly to believe in the causal roots of evil. He wondered if cruelty and its bride, fear, didn’t just exist spontaneously, forces as elemental and eternal, as gravity.”

These days, it appears so.

It’s a risky return to the outside world, but he does it. Some things are worth the bigger risks in life.

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I’d like to take a moment to note just the crime movies of Robert Redford, in no specific order, just as they come to mind: Butch and Sundance (bank and train robbers), The Hot Shot (from a Donald Westlake novel), Sneakers (international intrigue!), The Electric Horseman (he does steal the horse, after all), The Natural (gamblers fixing ball games), The Old Man and the Gun (bank robber), Legal Eagles (defense attorney), All the President’s Men (breaking and entering, at least…), Spy Game (CIA agent), The Last Castle (imprisoned general), Brubaker (prison warden uncovering crimes), Three Days of the Condor (CIA analyst paid to read books), The Sting (con man), Tell Them Willie Boy is Here (manhunt), The Chase (escaped convict) – if you want to go way back, and include early TV, you can add “The Untouchables”, “Naked City”, and “Perry Mason”. Hell OF A CAREER!

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Lastly, two more Sherlockian books:

Anthony Horowitz’s Moriarty is a diabolically clever novel. As told, a Pinkerton agent arrives to stop an American gang from taking over the late Professor’s crime web. He joins with a Scotland Yard inspector who has been studying Holmes’ techniques. The devil of it is that no one has ever seen the villain. How to find him and know it when they get him? And then the whole things is turned on it’s head in the most unexpected and ingenious way. Can’t explain that, except to say it is a most Ackroydian ending…

And most appropriate for the season, Loren D. Estleman’s Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula finds the duo from 221B battling a creature that neither wants to believe can truly exist. The plot fits within and around Stoker’s masterpiece and Estleman does a superb job ratcheting up the tension. Your hair will raise and your spine will tingle. Unfortunately, you’ll have to look for a used copy as it is out of print. Worth the hunt!

For a hammering shot of hardboiled pulp, jump over to the latest iteration of my image blog: old magazines (mystery, crime, true crime and more) and paperbacks, from the 20s to, well, whatever new fits in. SMBNoir

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September 2025

10 Far Side Comics That Are Perfect For Mystery Fans

‘Unimaginably rare’ first edition of The Hobbit sells at auction for £43,000

Waterstones apologises after readers brand event ‘utter chaos’

Trump Suggests NYT ‘Rigged’ Its Own Best-Seller List Because Book About Him Isn’t Top

This Is the Most Attractive Hobby a Man Can Have, According to Women (psst – you’re doing it right now...)

US returns to Mexico stolen manuscript signed by conquistador Hernan Cortes

Ancient manuscripts return to Timbuktu 13 years after jihadist takeover

A Haven for English in the Most French of North American Cities

The Kryptos Key Is Going Up for Sale

500 Years of Author Portraits

‘Skibidi?’ – New words added to the Cambridge Dictionary and what they mean

Record $251K Paid for Scarce Negro League Oscar Charleston Graded Baseball Card

12 Vintage Nicknames For Alcohol That You Don’t Hear Anymore

A Word, Please: How do you actually use a hyphen?

catillate (v.): to lick the dishes

Canada is Killing Itself

AI Learned to Be Evil Without Anyone Telling It To, Which Bodes Well

‘Animal Farm‘ at 80: Orwell’s parable remains ‘horribly’ relevant

Private-equity backed prison health companies continue despite decade of alleged constitutional violations

Have men really stopped reading? We take a deeper dive into the data

‘Deeply concerning’: reading for fun in the US has fallen by 40%, new study says

Denmark to abolish VAT on books in effort to get more people reading

Seven Wyoming newspapers were about to be shut. They were given a second life

The Real Deep State Stuff: How the national security bureaucracy blocked Reagan’s ballistic missile ban

An Unconstitutional “Jim Crow Jury” Sent Him to Prison for Life. A New Law Aims to Keep Him There.

Gun used in Emmett Till’s lynching is on display at museum 70 years later

Alarm as US far-right extremists eye drones for use in domestic attacks

Seattle’s audio drama, fiction podcast scene is booming

Ex-Intel engineer sentenced for stealing trade secrets for Microsoft

Pacific Northwest sees surge in bookstores dedicated to romance novels

Thieves steal $2m in jewelry in under two minutes at Seattle store

Megladon, woolly mammoth teeth among $20k worth of items stolen from Ballard oddities shop

NE Portland’s new book-and-bottle shop encourages customers to seek out experiences, beer or cider in hand

Mystery of Portland family who disappeared more than 60 years ago ‘solved’ as shocking discovery made

String of homicides linked to members of prominent Tacoma gang

Alaska Vowed to Resolve Murders of Indigenous People. Now It Refuses to Provide Their Names.

The Criminal Enterprise Run by Monkeys

Drawing of pet squirrel by King George III’s would-be assassin to go on display

Secret code that has been around for almost 100 years revealed as telling photo goes viral

‘It’s gruesome’: fears of grave-robbing amid rise in sale of human remains

Fans think Garth Brooks is secretly a serial killer

noctivagant (v.): going about in the night : night-wandering

Fort Bliss soldier charged with espionage for attempted secrets leak

Revealed: oligarchs spied on UK lawyers who ran Serious Fraud Office cases

American accused of offering sensitive information on US military to China indicted in Germany

Bookseller Andrew Laties on Championing Banned Books

‘Attack on people’s memory’: Kashmir’s book ban sparks new censorship fears

‘State-driven censorship’: new wave of book bans hits Florida school districts

The Dangerous Legal Strategy Coming for Our Books

Banned! The 20 books they didn’t want you to read

Smithsonian artists and scholars respond to White House list of objectionable art

[just for comparison: from CBS Sunday Morning, 11 years ago When Adolf Hitler declared war on modern art]

Trump signs order to criminally charge those who burn US flag in protest

Colorado Town Settles With Native Artist Who Brought Free Speech Lawsuit

agathokakological (adj.): composed of both good and evil

Polari book prize cancelled after row over gender-critical novelist

NEA cancels decades-long creative writing fellowship

Here are the 2025 Washington State Book Award finalists

Karin Slaughter: ‘Cats are serial killers at heart’

‘It’s incredible’: How a Lincoln man turned his love of obscure works into a nationwide book-selling business

A family opened a town’s first bookstore. A bathroom bill is driving them away.

James Patterson to write book about Luigi Mangione

The authors who make millions through self-publishing

The National Association Of Black Bookstores Has Launched: Here’s What To Know About The Group

Why did Joan Didion abandon her book about the Manson murders?

Southern Living names this Georgia bookstore one of the South’s best, according to authors

The future of book reviews looks grim

The influence of Edward Abbey’s ‘Monkey Wrench Gang’ as it turns 50

Waterstones opens 10 new stores a year as younger adults embrace reading

CBSNews: Inside one of the country’s oldest bookshops

As Mick Herron’s Slough House spy novel series turns 15, he says he never expected it to succeed

What are the best adventure novels? Let’s add a hidden gem to the list.

Interested in espionage fiction, but don’t know where to start? Let our expert guide you.

Thrillers With Twists You Won’t See Coming

Simon & Schuster Leader to Step Down

How Much Do You Know About the Literary Gilded Age? Try This Quiz

How Harry Potter Fans are Driving the Romantacy Trend

One of the world’s most beautiful bookstores is in Los Angeles

Sept. 23: Elizabeth George signs A Slowly Dying Cause, her new Lynley novel, Third Place/LFP. 7pm

Sept. 24: Elizabeth George signs A Slowly Dying Cause, her new Lynley novel, Powell’s, 7pm

Sept. 30: Kevin O’Brien signs Everyone a Stranger, his new Seattle-based historical thriller, and Elizabeth George signs A Slowly Dying Cause, her new Lynley novel, Elliot Bay, 7pm

Peaky Blinders creator will write new James Bond film

At 75, Norma Desmond of ‘Sunset Boulevard’ Is More Ready Than Ever for Her Close-Up

75 years after its screen debut, what ‘Sunset Blvd.’ says about stardom

15 Years Later, This 4-Season Drama Is Still the Gold Standard for Sherlock Holmes Adaptations

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo got lost in translation after its 2005 release

Jason Bourne is coming back – but what do we want from him this time?

Sharon Stone Slams Amazon’s Plan to Reboot ‘Basic Instinct’: “Good F***ing Luck”

Why ‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’ May Never Get a Home Release

A 1950 Noir, Filmed in San Francisco, That Just *Had* to Have Inspired ‘Vertigo’

Nicolas Cage in Talks to Star in HBO’s ‘True Detective’ Season 5

True Detective Reunion Show Lands At Netflix After Major Bidding War

Criminally good: the return of the high-class crime flick

John Malkovich Joins ‘Bad Monkey’ Season 2

From ‘Psycho’ to Leatherface: Notorious Wisconsin killer Ed Gein in popular culture

Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear Was A Remake Of This Underrated Crime Thriller

Joe Caroff, Designer of the James Bond 007 Logo amongst many movie posters, Dies at 103

Do I have what it takes to be the next Bond girl?

From royal hatters to top tailors: James Bond lawyers line up trademark fight team

Cachinnate (v.): to laugh loudly or immoderately

Aug. 3: Ann Harris, Who Edited a Stack of Best Sellers, Dies at 99

Aug. 4: Dame Stella Rimington, former MI5 director general, dies at 90

Aug. 9: Studying bank deposits, Sandra Grimes found a deadly CIA traitor

Aug. 9: Former FBI and CIA Director William H. Webster dies at 101

Aug. 14: Fringe-wearing Wyoming trial lawyer Gerry Spence dies at 96

Aug. 16: Greg Iles, Mississippi author of ‘Natchez Burning’ trilogy, dies of cancer at 65

Aug. 16: Ronnie Rondell Jr., Hollywood Stuntman Set on Fire for a Pink Floyd Album, Dies at 88 [an amazing Hollywood resume!]

Aug. 17: Terence Stamp, face of 60s British cinema and star of The Limey and Superman, dies at 87

Aug. 22: David Ketchum, the Cooped-Up Agent 13 on ‘Get Smart,’ Dies at 97

Aug. 23: Jerry Adler, Actor on ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘The Good Wife’ and ‘Rescue Me,’ Dies at 96

Aug. 24: Starling Lawrence, Editor Who Uncovered Best Sellers, Dies at 82

philostorgie (n.): “the love of parents towards their children”

Aug. 3: The Mostly True Story of America’s First Black Private Investigator

Aug. 6: The Engines and Empires of New York City Gambling

Aug. 8: Mysterious Crime Spree Targeted National Guard Equipment Stashes

Aug. 8: ‘Police said my stepdaughter’s death was natural. As a surgeon, I knew it was murder’

Aug. 11: The Crypto Maniacs and the Torture Townhouse

Aug. 12: Mystery of Bank Theft Said to Be Iceland’s First Is Solved After 50 Years

Aug. 15: Minnesota Fisherman Accidentally Catches Key Evidence in 1967 Cold Case

Aug. 16: ‘Game of chess’ to keep gangsters apart in jail as attacks rise

Aug. 19: How a Death Row Murderer Exposed One of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killers (Part 1)

Aug. 20: How a Death Row Murderer Exposed One of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killers (Part 2)

Aug. 24: French police arrest suspected serial killer after bodies dumped in Seine

Aug. 26: Nazi looted art discovered after 80 years thanks to real estate ad

Aug 27: Chatbot’s Crime Spree Used AI to Grab Bank Details, Social Security Numbers

Aug 28: Painting looted by Nazis has vanished again, say Argentine police

Aug. 28: Nazi official’s daughter wanted over ‘theft in the context of genocide’

Aug 28: Husband tries to have wife killed again after being jailed for trying to orchestrate her death years earlier

Aug. 29: ‘Walking Tall’ Sheriff Buford Pusser implicated in wife Pauline’s 1967 death

Shot-clog (n.): a bore tolerated only because he pays the charge for others

A Daughter of Fair Verona — Christina Dodd

If Seattle Mystery Bookshop were still breathing, I’d have at least five copies of this book on my recommendation shelf! No, probably ten. Seriously, it’s been a long while since I’ve laughed/snorted/chortled out loud this much whilst reading a mystery.

Christina Dodd does an excellent job of blending Shakespeare’s characters, language, the values of the day, moods, and manners with today’s sensibilities. Though the fairly dark undercurrents, one would expect nothing less of a book based on the Bard’s body of work, keep A Daughter of Fair Verona from becoming a parody of Shakespeare’s original work.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. 

A Daughter of Fair Verona is about Rosaline, the eldest daughter of Romeo and Juliet. Yes, that Romeo and Juliet. Turns out, the aim of a dagger held by a thirteen-year-old girl isn’t quite as true as one would suppose. As for the bottle of poison? Romeo fell victim to biology — as it isn’t uncommon for those who knowingly or unknowingly ingest a large quantity of a toxic substance to vomit it right back up. In this case, this biological safeguard allowed Romeo to survive and live happily ever after with his Juliet.

Fast forward nineteen years.

Rosaline, the eldest daughter of the ever growing Montague family, has every intention of remaining a spinster. After nearly two decades of witnessing Romeo & Juliet’s passion (no, their drama did not taper as they got older), Rosaline wants nothing to do with marriage, passion, and romance, despite her parents’ efforts to match her with a mate.

Attempts which Rosaline repeatedly manages to sidestep rather neatly. 

Unfortunately, neither the paternal unit has given up on settling Rosaline into her “happily ever after”. And, for the fourth time, they announce they’ve found their eldest daughter a husband. Who, unfortunately, turns up with a knife in his chest during his and Rosaline’s engagement ball….And the murderer is just getting started.

I cannot impress upon y’all how much fun this book is! Seriously, Dodd captures both the darkness and light of Shakespeare’s work. Even better? There are no asides explaining the cultural/societal norms of Shakespearean literature, nor are there history lessons or footnotes that explain politics. Dodd keeps the narrative focused on Rosaline and the mystery, allowing the plot to unfold at full tilt from the front to back cover. 

If my shelf were still around, I would grab a copy of A Daughter of Fair Verona and press it into your hands, telling you to “trust me, you’re going to have fun.”

Still recycling

My brain is sludge. I seem to be frozen, which would be amusing considering the time of year, but there ya go. I can’t seem to be able to read anything. It’s not only annoying, it’s a little unsettling.

But there are things in the works that might shake things up, so keep your fingers crossed!

Anyway, let me bring back a review I did ages ago. Everyone knows John Sandford for his amazing Lucas Davenport “Prey” novels, as well as his Virgil Flowers series, but he is not known for writing amazing science fiction, and that’s a shame because Saturn Run, cowritten with Ctein, is an exceptional book.

Here’s what I said before:

“The year is 2066. A Caltech intern inadvertently notices an anomaly from a space telescope something is approaching Saturn, and decelerating. Space objects don’t decelerate. Spaceships do.

A flurry of top-level government meetings produces the inescapable conclusion: Whatever built that ship is at least one hundred years ahead in hard and soft technology, and whoever can get their hands on it exclusively and bring it back will have an advantage so large, no other nation can compete. A conclusion the Chinese definitely agree with when they find out.

The race is on, and an remarkable adventure begins an epic tale of courage, treachery, resourcefulness, secrets, surprises, and astonishing human and technological discovery, as the members of a hastily thrown-together crew find their strength and wits tested against adversaries both of this earth and beyond.”

Yeah, that’s pretty generic, but you know me. It’s all about the people, and the people on this run are nuanced and perfectly human in that John Sandford tradition. Ctein is known for his photographic excellence but he’s pivotal in getting the tech stuff right – always tricky – and making it understandable and accessible to folks like me – off the charts insanely impossible – and yet I understood the tech portions of Saturn Run and they were just as gripping as the personal intrigues that make it an amazing thriller.

Read it. You won’t regret it. Pinky swear. In fact, maybe I should. That might just blast me out of my rut.

My latest visit with Holmes and Watson finds them investigating odd events at the most prestigious boys school in the British Empire. The sons of financiers, diplomats, and royalty have gotten their youthful education there and the spotless reputation has now been besmirched. John Hall’s Sherlock Holmes and the Abbey School Mystery finds Watson taking a teaching post incognito to see what he can find out. But a second death brings Holmes dashing from London.

Ancient ruins, stolen banknotes, a tower declared off-limits, and a parcel bomb are just a few of the perils they’ll face. A tidy case!

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Years ago, I read a terrific book that covered the reign of the Prohibition gangsters, Public Enemies. The title was used by Michael Mann for his Dillinger movie but the book covered him and Bonnie & Clyde, and all of the other of the time. The nice thing about the book is that it went chronologically, so you got a sense of what was going on month to month and year to year. I recommend it. It appears to be out of print so look for a used copy.

I had read about a new book, The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild, by Brian Burrough. It wasn’t until I got it home that I discovered he wrote that gangster book, in addition to Forget the Alamo, a book I reviewed months ago.

The Gunfighters is best described as a survey of the history of the West. Burrough is not breaking new ground or presenting new research. Rather, he’s pulled together what others have written about smaller pieces of the whole story and woven them into a comprehensive story. And it is great fun. He’s a smooth writer with a sharp wit.

His greatest theme is that the high-noon face-off in the middle of the street (and there really weren’t that many recorded) was an outgrowth of the Southern duel. It was all about honor and saving face and went from a well-choreographed 20 paces and shoot to being called out and called names and who could draw first and aim best. “Though more than a few duels disintegrated into manic shoot-outs, we remember the gunfight as a wilder thing, a duel with its hair on fire.” This codified duel system would be warped into The Code of the West.

Having consumed a large number of books on the mythic American West, this view was new to me. Burrough does a good job of citing and recommending the writings of those from whom he got many of stories he related. I had also not heard the idea that Mark Twain was one of the first to write about the growing gunfighter “mystique” in Roughing It while living in Virginia City, NV, in 1872.

He traces the movement of rough men from just after the Civil War – Confederates and desperadoes who brought the code of honor with them from the Southern states into Texas, and there it evolved – or mutated, whatever your view – into something more deadly. Eventually, the Cow-boys would follow the cattle west ahead of the Rangers and into New Mexico and finally into Arizona. Burrough feels the code of honor split into slightly different codes: that of the cowboy on the range and that of the Code of the West, which applied to the population in general.

“The behaviors that emerged in Texas were not simply an extension of the older code. There were clear differences. The western code eventually did away with the niceties of arranged contests; contrast a Southern-style duel, even a Hickok-Tutt showdown in 1865, to almost any of the gunfights in Billy the Kid’s New Mexico fifteen years later. The Code of the West produced violence that was more feral, more instantaneous, and often more deadly.”

The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild, by Brian Burrough is well worth your time. He ends his tale with the demise of Butch and Sundance, writing the age of the Gunfighter Era was over, and begins his epilogue with this all-to-true summation:

“Except it wasn’t over. It’s never really been over. But the frontier was no more, and with it the idea of the Wild West passed from headlines to history. What followed was its propulsive romanticization, beginning with Owen Wister’s ‘The Virginian’ in 1902 and the paintings and sculpture of Frederic Remington, spreading via Hollywood Westerns silent and then spoken, the the rediscovery of figures such as Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and Wild Bill Hickok by popular authors in the 1920-s, and of it reading a crescendo with television’s Western craze during the 1950s. Gunfighters didn’t suddenly end when Butch and Sundance boarded that freighter, but they were fading out, and in the years afterward, Western literature, art, and cinema drew far more attention than western violence.”

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For a slug of hardboiled pulp, jump over to the latest iteration of my image blog: old magazines (mystery, crime, true crime and more) and paperbacks, from the 20s to, well, whatever new fits in. seattlemysteryhardboiled.com

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August 2025

“Bookish”: Mark Gatiss on the universe’s ‘howling chaos’ and the comfort of an orderly murder mystery

Lost Jefferson letter on arms and democracy resurfaces for Fourth of July sale

Who preserves the homes of Black literary giants

The Hunt for a 316-Year-Old Stradivarius Stolen in the Fog of War

France’s Bayeux Tapestry to return to Britain after 900 years

The Last Time Anyone Saw This ‘Holy Grail’ Scroll Was 1902. Someone Just Found It by Accident.

Slay the new slang: check out a guide to social media’s baffling lingo

A 900-Year-Old Typo May Unravel a Chaucer Mystery

‘I’d be proud to be thrown out of America!’ Eric Idle on Trump, life after Python and not talking before lunch

Take a peek at Stephen Sondheim’s papers, now at the Library of Congress

Stolen Historic Documents Surface in Attic—Ten Years After an Employee Used Them as Collateral to Borrow Money

Ulysses S. Grant’s Great-Great-Grandson Is Alive—and Writing Erotic Vampire Novels

His Old Books Look Great Beside New Clothes

Nick Cave donates 2000 books to Oxfam charity

Lost Book of the Dead found in Egyptian cemetery and archaeologist won’t say what’s in it

Caitlin Clark’s WNBA rookie card fetches $660,000 at auction in record sale

He read (at least) 3,599 Books in His Lifetime. Now You Can See His List

What’s a spredge? The latest booming trend in book design

Five words that today are gratingly misapplied or worn out

Sherlock Holmes Competition Format In The Works

bolly (adj.): covered with bubbles! (Says You! #509)

Cartel Fighters Make a Desperate Alliance That Could Transform Underworld

Tech firms suggested placing trackers under offenders’ skin at meeting with justice secretary

Nearly Half of America’s Murderers Get Away With It

White, Legally Armed, and Primed for Political Violence

Victims in rape cases can lie in court, says leading barrister

What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing?

Administration Takes Steps to Target 2 Officials Who Investigated Trump

Conversations with a Hit Man: A former FBI agent traveled to Louisiana to ask a hired killer about a murder that haunted him. Then they started talking about a different case altogether.

A Group of Young Cybercriminals Poses the ‘Most Imminent Threat’ of Cyberattacks Right Now

RCMP Uncovers Domestic Terror Plot with Military Links

China’s cyber sector amplifies Beijing’s hacking of U.S. targets

The Rapid Rise of Killings by Police in Rural America

What to Do With the Most Dangerous Book in America

It is one of the deadliest chemicals on Earth – but even Mexico’s cartels can’t resist the lure of mercury

Letters from prisoners on Nazi death row sent to families at last

ChatGPT Gave Instructions for Murder, Self-Mutilation, and Devil Worship (OpenAI’s chatbot also said “Hail Satan.”)

﹅Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to murders of four University of Idaho students

﹅The serial killer expert who taught the Idaho killer shares her story

﹅‘It became a game to people’: how online sleuths grew obsessed with the Idaho murders

﹅What Was the Motive Behind the Idaho College Murders? A New Docuseries and Book Attempt an Answer.

Idaho sniper’s twisted motive for firefighter ambush revealed

Two alleged Chinese spies charged after targeting Navy bases in WA, OR, CA, TX

✦Seattle’s big crime drop of 2025 is upending political narratives

Legendary Oregon author’s coastal writing retreat is for sale for the first time

Federal court blocks new Washington state law requiring priests to report abuse and neglect

‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’ Unravels in Official Series Trailer

✦Violent crime drops in Washington as drug offenses skyrocket, latest statistics show

Excogigate – To plot, plan, devise, with Latin roots that mean to bring out by thinking. 

Jonestown Massacre Site, Where Over 900 People Died, Opens to Tourism

‘You are living with a difficult person who is waiting to die’: my harrowing time as Patricia Highsmith’s assistant

When Writers Split Up, Who Gets to Tell the Story?

Elmo’s X account posts racist and antisemitic messages after being hacked

What I Inherited from My Criminal Great-Grandparents

Everyone’s Obsessed with True Crime. Even Prisoners Like Me

Why is a cowboy writer from Ohio venerated in a small Aussie beach town? The incredible story of Zane Grey

A band of innovators reimagines the spy game for a world with no cover

(Un)orthodox intelligence operations: How Russia is using its churches abroad

UK man on trial accused of offering minister’s information to Russian spies

CIA historian Tim Weiner: ‘Trump has put national security in the hands of crackpots and fools’

Russia’s agents killed after intelligence officer shot dead, says Ukraine

Microsoft Says It Has Stopped Using China-Based Engineers to Support Defense Department Computer Systems

18 foreign spies sanctioned by UK government

British man obsessed with James Bond convicted of trying to spy for Russia

This true story of CIA book smuggling reads like an Ian Fleming novel

Britain to build fleet of spy balloons

Gorgonize – from the early 17th century, this lovely word means to have a mesmerizing effect on someone

Want to save money and entertain the kids? Take them to the local library

Need a Tool for a Home Project? Get Yourself a Library Card.

Backlash as Reform claims trans books removed from children’s library section

Libraries Pay More for E-Books. Some States Want to Change That.

Ira Wells, who literally wrote the book on book bans, shares his thoughts on the politics of censorship

Russian bookstore raided & faces criminal prosecution for “LGBT propaganda”

Amy Sherald Pulls Smithsonian Show Over Censorship Concerns

‘Late Show’ Musicians’ Union Calls Colbert’s Cancellation “Censorship”

Christian Bookstore Sues Colorado Over Gender Expression Law

The 10 most beautiful libraries in the world

Author Liam McIlvanney longlisted for book prize named after his father

2025 CWA Dagger Awards Announced

From Canada: Giller Prize says it will be forced to cease operations without federal funding

Most global Booker prize longlist in a decade features Kiran Desai and Tash Aw

Forget Agatha Christie, this is the real Queen of Crime

First American to Write James Bond Novels now to pen Felix Leiter novel

‘Like an academic’: private papers reveal John le Carré’s attention to detail

AI translation service launched for fiction writers and publishers prompts dismay among translators

James Ellroy: ‘I have been obsessed with crime since my mother’s murder’

By the Book: Nancy Drew Inspired Lisa Scottoline’s Recent Splurge

Chasing le Carré in Corfu

More sex please, we’re bookish: the rise of the x-rated novel

Fairy porn and a ‘smut hut’: Inside Britain’s new romance-only bookshop

[JB here – I don’t remember how I stumbled onto this site but it’s a kick. messynessychic“s Cabinet of Curiosities has a weekly “13 Things I Found on the Internet Today”. In the most recent (Vol. 747), #3 is Looney Tunes Backgrounds, and this one caught my eye – – –


must’ve been a Pepe le Pew cartoon?

Aug. 6: Morgan Richter signs The Understudy, an opera thriller, Elliot Bay, 7pm

[University Books has partnered with Barnes& Noble and we find no events listed. In general, there seem to be far fewer author events…or maybe its just summer?]

Sherlock Holmes 3 Gets Disappointing Update From James Moriarty Actor

Modesty Blaise, the original female secret agent

How censors tried – and failed – to keep LGBT Voices Out of the Movies

‘I’m a healthier person for playing a serial killer’: Michael C Hall on Dexter’s wildly improbable

Kenneth Branagh, Lily Gladstone Join Michael B. Jordan in ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ Remake

Secrets of James Bond theme songs from icon fainting to Johnny Cash rejection

The James Bond Movie Dr No Turned A Real Art Heist Into A Brilliant Easter Egg

When Your Crime Becomes a Dick Wolf Show

Complex murder mystery series hailed as ‘breathless whodunnit’ comes to Disney+ [based on Tana French books]

Agatha Christie To Be Fictionalized In TV Series For BBC & BritBox About Mysterious Society Of Crime Writers

Cockalorum – coming straight out of the 1710s, this word refers to a little man who has a high opinion of himself

June 27: Thomas Neurath, publisher who led Thames & Hudson for half a century and developed its bestselling World of Art series died at 84

July 1: Jim Shooter, Teenage Comics Writer Who Revolutionized Marvel as Editor-in-Chief, Dies at 73

July 3: Michael Madsen, ‘Reservoir Dogs’, Thelma and Louise, Actor, Dies at 67

July 4: Kenneth Colley, versatile actor and Admiral Piett in a Pair of ‘Star Wars’ Films, Dies at 87

July 4: Mark Snow, ‘The X-Files’ Theme Song Composer, Dies at 78 

July 4: Julian McMahon, Australian Actor Known for ‘Nip/Tuck’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ Movies, Dies at 56

July ?: Joan Mellen, professor, historian, and assassination researcher, dead

July 10: John Martin, Devoted Publisher of Literary Rebels, Dies at 94

July 14: Martin Cruz Smith, acclaimed author of ‘Gorky Park,’ dies at 82

July 20: Tom Troupe, Stage and Screen Actor Who Appeared in ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Cagney & Lacey,’ Dies at 97

July 27: Tom Lehrer, song satirist and mathematician, dies at 97 [Don’t know his work? He’s wonderful! Tom Lehrer Full Copenhagen Performance]

July 19: Alon Aboutboul Dies: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ & ‘Rambo III’ Actor Was 60

June 29: My Best Friend’s Murder Was a Tabloid Circus. Now, I’m Looking for the Truth

July 1: Three bosses at Lucy Letby hospital arrested on suspicion of manslaughter

July 3: US couple could face trial in France over stolen shipwreck gold

July 3: 42 Years After She Vanished, a Man She Was Seeing Is Charged in Her Murder

July 4: Inside the CIA’s Secret Afghan Army

July 8: A typewriter recently discovered in a basement in upstate New York holds important clues about the origins of Chinese computing. And brings up questions about language and culture.

July 9: This Is Not Keanu: Inside the Billion-Dollar Celebrity Impersonation Bitcoin Scam

July 11: Colombia identifies new threat in drug war

July 11: US appeals court throws out plea deal for alleged mastermind of 11 September terror attacks

July 12: More than $113,000 of rare Pokémon cards stolen in Massachusetts break-in

July 12: Notorious member of ‘Hillside Stranglers’ serial killing duo, Kenneth Bianchi, denied parole

July 16: Bradley John Murdoch, Australia’s “Outback Killer”, dead at 67

July 16: Nicknames, Notes and a Waddle: How Colorado Fought a Bank Robbery Surge

July 16: He Was Accused of Killing His Wife. Idaho’s Coroner System Let Clues Vanish After a Previous Wife’s Death.

July 18: The Familiar Fingerprints of a Forgotten Art Heist

July 19: FBI agent found guilty of raping 3 clients in his secret tattoo parlors

July 19: New evidence confirms ringleader of 1951 Florida Klan killing

July 23: Evidence in Her Brutal 1979 Rape Pointed to the Golden State Killer. The Police Didn’t Want to Hear About It.

July 28: Celebrity Buddhist monk accused of embezzlement and adultery

Curglaff – you know when you plunge into that cold ocean water and want to scream? That shock is curglaff! It’s a Scottish term from the 1800s.

What you are looking for is in the Library — Michiko Aoyama

Translated by: Alison Watts

Last Christmas, my husband gave me a copy of The Kamogawa Food Detectives (by Hisashi Kashiwai), a Japanese cozy mystery series to which I’m now thoroughly addicted. 

Fast forward a six months.

Whilst perusing my way through the stacks of a bookshop, an idle query crossed my mind — ‘I wondered if Kashiwai’s American publisher had released the third installment yet?’ Wandering over to the fiction section (where many mysteries reside to fool genre snobs into thinking they aren’t reading/loving a mystery), I discovered that, alas, I need to wait a few more months.

Sigh.

Turning away from the shelf in question, I spied a stack of The Kamogawa Food Detectives‘ distinctive dust jackets on a nearby table. Curious if the display contained a theme, hoping against hope, a bookseller grouped together similar titles I hurried over. 

Huzzah! 

Amongst the piles of translated tomes I discovered What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama. I love reading books about books and essays on food just as much as I love reading mysteries. So, after practically throwing my money at the cashier in my eagerness, I rushed home and dove straight into its pages….

Librarians, much like booksellers, help unite people with books. And, every now and then, they recommend the perfect title at the exact time their patron needs it most. 

It’s a kind of magic.

Most people don’t realize this skill can’t be taught; it’s acquired over time through practice, observation, and, most importantly, listening. Sayuri Komachi, “Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian.”, owns this skill in spades and uses it to help those living in the ward where her Library resides.

I devoured this book in a day. 

Then I read it again.

And again.

Slower.

Reading how Sayuri releases each patron with a book recommendation that possesses the possibility of nudging them into shifting their perspective is fantastic. Equally fantastic, is the fact we are allowed to watch five of these masterful moments unfold in What You Are Looking For is in the Library. Each one demonstrating the power and importance of libraries, librarians, and physical books all in one fell swoop. (Or, at least, that’s my interpretation.)

Moreover, the interconnectedness of the people, places, and things made What You Are Looking For is in the Library a joy to read. Each library patron makes cameos in subsequent chapters, thus showing the subtle passage of time, whilst also allowing us (the reader) to see if these new perspectives stick or if the library patron slipped back into old habits. 

Whilst I savored every chapter (eventually), my favorite is — Masao, 65, retired. Within these handful of pages, Aoyama transforms Sayuri Komachi from a mountaintop mystic into a human being. And, unlike the great and terrible Oz’s reveal, this peek behind the curtain in no way disappoints. 

I would recommend this book to anyone. Especially those feeling a tad frustrated or lost in their own lives. Or if you need to witness kindness in action. Or someone who enjoys reading about books or felting. Yes, the craft plays a significant role in the stories. 

(Ignore the cat on the cover. It does not play a role. In case you’re worried.)

Recycling again

I’m reading a memoir now, and I may review it here although it has very little to do with murder (although ‘murder’ is used in the first page of the introduction, so there’s that), so I’m back to recycling.

Way back in August 2015, I took a deep breath and read the first James Stark book in Richard Kadrey’s “Sandman Slim” series, and here’s what I said. Mind you, one paragraph in, I slammed the book closed, so keep that in mind.

I’d heard good things about Richard Kadrey’s “Sandman Slim” series, and he’s coming in on Tuesday, August 25th at noon to sign the seventh in that series, Killing Pretty (Harper, $25.99), so I figured I’d start with the first one, Sandman Slim (Harper, $14.99). NOTE: He did come in, and once he even bugged out of a ComiCon to hide with us. He became a good friend to the shop.

I read the first line – I wake up on a pile of smoldering garbage and leaves in the old Hollywood Forever cemetery behind the Paramount Studio lot on Melrose, though the last details don’t come to me until later. – and I stopped. I swear, my aversion to present tense narratives is edging beyond quirky into pathological. I’m not kidding when I say I closed it and reached for another book.

But I’m an adult, darn it, at least according to my driver’s license, so I picked Sandman Slim back up, told myself “three chapters, and then I can say I tried” and dove back in.

And I’m glad I did.

James Stark got himself sent to Hell, or Downtown as he calls it, in an act of bad faith by some old friends. Now Stark has figured out a way to survive being human Downtown, and he found a way to escape. It wasn’t easy, of course, but he did it. And some of the things he learned while he was down there are standing him in good stead as he prowls L.A. in his unswerving determination to kill off those “friends” who betrayed him eleven years ago.

Naturally, things don’t go as planned, and there are all kinds of ways Stark’s plans can and do go wrong, but he’s nothing if not determined.

I’m a killer who hasn’t managed to kill anything. And it must be clear to everyone paying attention that I’m not Sam Spade. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m running on instinct and hunches.

Stark is brash and funny, possessing the ability to shred his clothes if nothing else, and is decidedly not politically correct, but he’s got moxie and he’s charming, in a very Bad Boy sort of way. On his own, Stark’s enough to make the series interesting, but I’ve gotta give Richard Kadrey total props: his characters are nothing if not unique and incredibly entertaining.

She kicks the can out of the way and slams the door. I can hear her stomp down every single step, like she’s punishing the staircase, like God’s tiniest tyrannosaurus.

I will definitely read the entire series, present tense notwithstanding, because Richard Kadrey’s created a great world filled with great people, and the twist that are bound to come up along the way will prove to be exceptionally entertaining, I’m sure!

BACK TO TODAY: I’ve read everything of Richard Kadrey’s I can get my hands on and present tense be damned. I’ve said time and again, “Trust your authors” and now if I see Richard Kadrey’s name on something, I’m in, full stop. It’s true he can be gory at times, but then he’s considered a horror writer by many, and I guess he is, but to me, he’s simply one of the best.

As I’ve written a few times, Fran (aka MS EVIL herself) got me hooked on the Ava Lee books by Ian Hamilton. I’ve just burned through THREE of them and am sorely tempted to start another, but rationality has over taken me. I’ll stop at #8 in the series, The Princeling of Nanjing.

As I’ve also written, these books, besides being addictive, are smart and inventive, fast moving and – ahem – fast reading. Ava has how entered what they sub-titles call “The Triad Years”. Someone once counseled by Uncle has reorganized his Triad affairs to be mostly legitimate, at least violent crime free. He’s invested in Ava and her group, allowing them to expand. That’s in The King of Shanghai, #7.

In the eighth, Ava returns to her forensic accounting tricks to get the goods on some true corrupt and nasty Nanjing folks to back off their efforts to get the Shanghai figure back into the drug biz. Ava swings into action to find their weaknesses. Hooo-boy.

The third one that started this rolling was one I’d missed, The Scottish Banker of Surabaya, the 5th in the series. It is in that book that we learn Uncle is very sick.

Fascinating characters, engrossing plots, exotic locales – who wouldn’t become absorbed in this series??

Can’t wait to pick up #9.

And #10, 11 and….

Where do these “Triad Years” go?

⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿⇿

“The rain stopped early that morning, and say what you want about the high desert, it soaked up water, and right fast. I rolled down the window and the smell of the rehydrated sage was as intoxicating as it always is, freshening the air to the point where your eyes watered…”

It’s early Autumn but that means little to someone dealing with the dunes in south-central Wyoming. The woman who delivers the mail in a 307 loop around that aridity is missing and the Colorado postal inspector has asked a favor of his late cousin’s husband. Can he find her? So it is that a certain tall galoot finds himself out of his normal territory.

Return to Sender is one of Craig Johnson’s “funny” Longmire books. One of the jokes in this new adventure is that seems to know who Walt is. He’s too well known in WY to be “undercover”. Along the way, Walt gives us some history and geography as he is wont. He’ll run into a loony sect and a retired Reno showgirl who keeps a scrapbook about him. He’ll buy a cheap flip phone for which he continually needs assistance. Dog gets to take it to three coyotes. And no one, no one, likes Walt’s beard. Cady’s possible promotion brings up talk of Walt’s long-mused retirement (21 books and counting??). But there’s not enough of Vic (though she is now referred to as the fiancee) or Henry. There is also an odd detour to a meeting with a certain Russian figure with more than a little echo of his showdown with Tomas Bidart. I’m left with the sense that it was a peak at the Winter’s events…

“Taking the Chilton Road cutoff, I wondered at how the landscape changed when there was light and you weren’t drowning in a waterfall, marveling at the pinstriped of silver light that fought through thick, flannel clouds. The glow was horizontal and highlighted the bare landscape in a deep contrast, raising even the smallest detail.” And, you know, Walt misses no details.

And something special:

from the magazine Cowboys & Indians – Western Culture, Native Life, Epic Stories: The Best Quotes from “Longmire”

⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄⇄

Read another of Antony Beevor’s WWII histories. The 4th of important battles. This one is Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943. Of course, I knew that the siege was horrendous. How may references are there in popular culture to Nazis worrying about being sent to “the Russian Front”?

And it was horrendous. On both sides: frostbite, little to no food, low ammunition, frozen-solid ground and no water, infested with pests, little to no medicine… But there are a few things that stuck out –

“It should not be forgotten that 600 Soviet prisoners of war were gassed in Auschwitz on 3 September 1941. This was the first experiment there with Zyklon B.”

The Luftwaffe officer in charge of all air efforts was Colonel-General Baron Wolfram von Richtofen. That’s right, a cousin of the Red Barron. But what struck me more is “he had commanded the Condor Legion in Spain, when the technique of carpet-bombing was invented and had been directly responsible for the destruction of Guernica in 1937…” If you know much about Picasso, Guernica is his most famous painting.

In September of 1942, the Nazis used up 25 million bullets!!!! And they still lost…

Finally, the ground was so frozen that footsteps sounded as if the person was walking on sheet metal, and mortars didn’t detonate when they hit the ground, they bounced and detonated in the air, like bouncing bettys.

And Stalin’s victory over the Nazi army gave him sway over Roosevelt and Churchill at the Tehran conference in Nov. of ’43. Indeed, the defeat of the Nazi’s 6th Army gave Stalin a clear course through Eastern Europe, leading the way to their having the satellites of the Cold War.

A startling book, all the way around. He’s a fine writer and all of his books have been vastly entertaining and enlightening.

⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎⚰︎

For a punch of hardboiled pulp, jump over to the latest iteration of my image blog: old magazines (mystery, crime, true crime and more) and paperbacks, from the 20s to, well, whatever new fits in. seattlemysteryhardboiled.com

July 2025

Word of the Month is changing from themed words. Instead, enjoy a seasonal group. Hope you enjoy!

☼☻We’re All Living in a Carl Hiaasen Novel☺︎♒︎

Salman Rushdie says AI won’t threaten authors until it can make people laugh

Many of Dead Sea scrolls may be older than thought, experts say

How the use of a word in the Guardian has gotten some readers upset

Are we reading Machiavelli wrong?

Shakespeare signature shows his London was as bureaucratic as ours

Just how bloody was medieval England? A ‘murder map’ holds some surprises.

John Lennon’s ‘smutty and funny’ letter to future first wife to be sold at auction

Wartime codebreaker Alan Turing’s scientific papers sell for £465,000 at auction

Sprayed Edges Are Everywhere and I Hate Them

In This Parisian Atelier, Bookbinding Is a Family Art

sun (n.): “the sun as a heavenly body or planet; daylight; the rays of the sun, sunlight,” also the sun as a god or object of worship; Middle English sonne, from Old English sunne “the sun,” from Proto-Germanic *sunno (source also of Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old High German sunna, Middle Dutch sonne, Dutch zon, German Sonne, Gothic sunno “the sun“), from PIE *s(u)wen-, an alternative form of root *sawel- “the sun.”

Old English sunne was fem. (as generally in Germanic), and the fem. pronoun was used in English until 16c.; since then masc. has prevailed, “without necessarily implying personification” [OED].

Under the sun for “anywhere in the world” is by c. 1200 (late Old English had under sunnan). The empire on which the sun never sets (1630) originally was the Spanish, later the British. To have one’s place in the sun (1680s) is first in English in a translation of Pascal’s “Pensées”; the German imperial foreign policy sense (1897) is from a speech by von Bülow. When the sun is over the foreyard is “noon” at sea, the traditional time of the first serving of the day’s first drink.

This Is Your Brain on Revenge

Inside the digital hunt for a child sex abuser

? Is the decline of reading poisoning our politics?

Lessons From Barnes & Noble: Surviving The Threat Of Amazon

Father, son facing terrorism charges in alleged Toronto plot to stand trial in 2026

? The Real Reason Men Should Read Fiction

‘His blood is in the soil’: the Kentucky group honoring victims of lynchings

Popular crime writer calls on Goodreads to ‘protect authors from online abuse‘

Murders are down nationwide. Researchers point to a key reason

2 Idaho firefighters killed in ambush, dead man found with gun near Canfield Mountain

Idaho woman’s death was a suspected suicide. Then police noticed her toenails.

WA Proud Boys leader joins $100M lawsuit against DOJ over Jan. 6 case

FBI thwarts mass shooting planned for WA mall, authorities say

In mystery-thriller writer’s world, Oregon always plays a starring role

Ringleader charged in string of burglaries targeting Seattle athletes, including Julio Rodriguez, Richard Sherman

Nancy Wilson’s stolen custom-built Telecaster guitar was recovered by police in New Jersey

WA cold case unit for missing and murdered Indigenous people makes first arrest

Jess Walter thought he needed to move away to make it as a writer. He found the inspiration for “So Far Gone” in his hometown.

Is he still alive? The mystery of DB Cooper – the hijacker who disappeared

Scammers posing as Chinese police stole millions, Bellevue police say

towel (n.): “cloth used to wipe dry,” especially for drying the person after washing or bathing, mid-13th C., touail, from Old French toaille (12th C.), from Frankish *thwahlja or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *thwahlijan (source also of Old Saxon thwahila, Middle Dutch dwale “towel,” Dutch dwaal “altar cloth,” Old High German dwehila “towel,” German dialectal Zwehle “napkin”). It is related to German zwagen, Old English þwean “to wash.” Spanish toalla, Italian tovaglia are considered Germanic loan-words.

The Middle English Compendium lists 27 spellings just for the singular form; the modern spelling emerged c. 1400. Towel-rack “frame or bar over which towels are hung” is attested by 1877. To rub (someone) with an oaken towel was an old figure for “beat with a cudgel.”

So, a Lot of Crypto People are Getting Violently Robbed Right Now

Mysterious 200-Year-Old Runes Found in Canadian Wilderness

☕︎Review: Agatha Christie poisoned hundreds of people. Here’s how shedunit

☕︎Murder, she measured: The impressive science behind Agatha Christie’s poisons

The Great Egg Heist: 280,000 eggs disappeared from America’s top producer. Then came a ransom note.

“Life, Lib­er­ty, and All the Rest of It”: Read­ing The God­fa­ther in To Die For – at 30

Funny, weird … sexy? How to find your perfect wedding poem

11 burglars repeatedly ransacked a California woman’s home. Then the bears came

Alleged Spy Was Also 22-Year-Old Ex-Grocery Store Clerk Hired by Trump

The Spying Scandal Rocking the World of HR Software

Special Report: Russian recruited a teenage spy. His arrest led to a crypto money trail

KGB defector turned to Britain only after US rejected him several times, book reveals

Blaise Metreweli named as first woman to lead UK intelligence service MI6

Russian husband and wife ‘ran Argentina spy network’

beach (n.): 1530s, “loose, water-worn pebbles of the seashore,” probably from a dialectal survival of Old English bece, bece “stream,” according to Barnhart from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (source also of Dutch beek, German Bach, Swedish bäck “stream, brook, creek”), perhaps from PIE root *bhog- indicating flowing water.

It was extended to loose, pebbly shores (1590s), then in 17th C. to “shore of the sea” generally, regardless of composition, especially the part of any shore between high and low tide marks. According to OED (1989) in dialect around Sussex and Kent beach still has the meaning “pebbles worn by the waves.” French grève shows the same evolution.

Beach ball is recorded by 1940; beach bum by 1950.

Kenyan author prosecuted for writing a book about president’s daughter

S.F. author temporarily banned on Facebook after writing about L.A. protests

Perth library trials social worker program to help people in need

British Library to reinstate Oscar Wilde’s reader card 130 years after it was revoked

British and US bestsellers hit by purge in Russian bookshops

Police in China arrest female authors of homosexual novels in crackdown on ‘boys love’ fiction genre

☀︎Pride flag taken down after complaint from Christian bookshop

America Deported Her for Publishing a Book Titled ‘Lesbian Love.’ Years Later, She Was Murdered by the Nazis for Being Jewish

☀︎Someone is destroying pride flags in St Paul, neighbors are responding in force

Supreme Court sides with religious parents who want to avoid LGBTQ+ books in public schools

Malaysia cracks down on books deemed harmful to public morality

hot (adj.): Old English hat “hot, flaming, opposite of cold,” used of the sun or air, of fire, of objects made hot; also “fervent, fierce, intense, excited,” from Proto-Germanic *haita- (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian het, Old Norse heitr, Middle Dutch and Dutch heet, German heiß “hot,” Gothic heito “heat of a fever”), of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Lithuanian kaisti “to grow hot;” both could be from a substratum word.

With a long vowel in Middle English (rhyming with boat, wrote) which shortened in modern English, perhaps from influence of comparative hotter. As an adverb, Old English hote.

Hot as “full of sexual desire, lustful” is from c. 1500; the sense of “inciting desire” is 18c. Taste sense of “pungent, acrid, biting” is from 1540s. Sense of “exciting, remarkable, very good” is 1895; that of “stolen” is first recorded 1925 (originally with overtones of “easily identified and difficult to dispose of”); that of “radioactive” is from 1942. Of jazz music or combos from 1924.

Hot flashes in the menopausal sense attested from 1887. Hot stuff for anything good or excellent is by 1889, American English. Hot seat is from 1933. Hot potato in figurative sense is from 1846 (from being baked in the fire coals and pulled out hot). Hot cake is from 1680s; to sell like hot cakes is from 1839.

The hot and cold in hide-and-seek or guessing games (19c.) are from hunting (1640s), with notion of tracking a scent. Hot and bothered is by 1851. Hot under the collar in the figurative sense of “infuriated, enraged, angry” is by 1881.

Kingston ties run deep in debut novel nominated for Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence

Seattle Times reporter wins prestigious Livingston Award for ‘Lost Patients’ podcast

Women’s prize for fiction goes to debut novelist Yael van der Wouden’s The Safekeep

Bernardine Evaristo scoops Women’s prize outstanding contribution award

Waterstones debut fiction prize 2025 shortlist announced

Carnegie medal for writing: Margaret McDonald named youngest ever winner

New prize for translated poetry aims to tap into boom for international-language writing

‘Intense’ novel about robot abused by her boyfriend/owner wins Arthur C Clarke science fiction award [JB recommends the book!]

Orwell prize for political writing awarded to novelist killed in Ukraine war

After 50 Years, Stephen King Has Finally Found His Great Hero

‘Cooler Than Cool’ Review: Elmore Leonard’s Life of Crime

Is ‘immersive reading’ the ideal new way to experience books?

The Subversive Joy of BookTok

New web retailer BookKind pledges 10% of all sales to charity

Review: S.A. Cosby isn’t letting up

Judge backs AI firm over use of copyrighted books

By the Book: Stephen Fry Knows He’s Become a Middle-Aged Cliché

Book collector ‘gobsmacked’ to find notes by wife

Best Books of Summer 2025 According to Booksellers

‘The best way to discover hidden gems’: why you should try out a bookshop crawl

▻Rebus may return in the future, Sir Ian Rankin says

▻Line-up unveiled for crime writing festival with guest programmer Sir Ian Rankin

This NYC bookshop was just named the best indie bookstore in the country

The Twisted Spine: NYC’s First Bookstore and Café dedicated to Horror is coming to Williamsburg Fall 2025!​

Mark Billingham: I couldn’t write about the police the same after this horrifying crime

Local bookstores are thriving. They’re doing so in different ways.

July 16: Gabriel Urza signs and discusses his new legal thriller, The Silver State, Powell’s, 7pm

July 17: Daniel Silva signs and discusses his hew Gabriel Alon thriller, An Inside Job, Island Books off-site event, 7pm

hose (n.): late 13th C., “covering of woven cloth or leather for the lower part of the leg, with or without feet,” from late Old English hosa “covering for the leg,” from Proto-Germanic *huson- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Norse hosa “covering for the leg between the knee and ankle,” Middle High German hose “covering for the leg,” German Hose “trousers,” Danish hose “hose, stockings;” Middle Dutch hose, Dutch hoos “hose, stocking,” also “spout, waterspout”), literally “covering,” from PIE root *(s)keu- “to cover, conceal.” Old French hose, Old Spanish huesa, Italian uosa are of Germanic origin.

From mid-15th C. as “close-fitting garment resembling tights worn by men and boys.”

The hose of the middle ages generally covered the person from the waist to the toes; they were secured to the upper garment by points or some similar device. At times the covering of one leg and side of the body was of different material and color from that of the other side. In the sixteenth century the leg-coverings were divided into two parts, and the word hose was applied rather to the breeches, the covering of the lower part of the leg and foot being called the stocking or nether-stock. [Century Dictionary]

Used in Middle English of various things resembling a stocking, such as the sheath or husk of an ear of grain; sense of “flexible rubber tube for conveying liquid” is first attested mid-14th C.

☞‘True Detective’ Creator Nic Pizzolatto Has a “Story” for Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson to Reprise Cohle and Hart: They’re “Open to It”

Tom Cruise scores Guinness World Record for most burning parachute jumps

One Of The Greatest Serial Killer Movies Ever Is Based On A True Story

Rachel Brosnahan to Lead ‘Presumed Innocent’ Season 2 at Apple TV+

Steven Spielberg Thinks Everyone Needs To Watch This 1958 Crime Noir Classic

‘Allegory for the times we live in’: De Niro and Scorsese reunite for Casino at 30

☞Matthew McConaughey to Reunite With ‘True Detective’ Creator Nic Pizzolatto for ‘Mike Hammer’ Movie

BritBox Greenlights Contemporary Adaptation of Agatha Christie’s ‘Tommy & Tuppence’

‘Mindhunter’ May Return as Three Movies, Star Holt McCallany Reveals

An art theft spells dis­as­ter for Josh O’Con­nor in Kel­ly Reichardt’s excel­lent Viet­nam-era heist dramedy, The Mastermind

The First Hercule Poirot Movie Is Impossible To Watch Today

Pusherman Director Legs McNeil Reveals the Real Story of ‘American Gangster’ Frank Lucas

James Bond aficionados have a new theory about his villains

Andor Creator Tony Gilroy’s Incredible James Bond Pitch Was Sadly Shot Down

Ian Fleming hated one James Bond book so much he restricted filming

Denis Villeneuve to Direct Next James Bond Film

pool (n.): “small body of standing water,” Old English pol “small body of water; deep, still place in a stream,” from Proto-West Germanic *pōl- (source also of Old Frisian and Middle Low German pol, Dutch poel, Old High German pfuol, German Pfuhl “pool, puddle”), which is of uncertain origin, perhaps a substratum word [Boutkan]. As a short form of swimming pool it is recorded from 1901. Pool party “party at a swimming pool” is by 1965.

June 4: Edmund White, acclaimed novelist of gay life, dies at 85

June 9: Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal author and former MI6 agent, dies aged 86

June 11: Harris Yulin, Actor in ‘Scarface,’ ‘Training Day’ and ‘Ozark,’ Dies at 87

June 13: Barbara Holdridge, Whose Record Label Foretold Audiobooks, Dies at 95

June 16: Lynn Freed, acclaimed Bay Area author and teacher, dies at 79

June 20: Gailard Sartain, Actor in ‘The Replacements’ and ‘Mississippi Burning,’ Dies at 81

June 26: Susan Beth Pfeffer, 77, Dies; Wrote Complex Stories for Young Adults

June 26: Bill Moyers, eminence of public affairs broadcasting, dies at 91

June 26: Lalo Schifrin, Acclaimed Composer of ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Mannix’ Themes, Dies at 93 [press play to listen to his finest!]

June 4: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews The Jackal Speaks: From his jail cell, terrorist Carlos the Jackal tells of his plan to nuke France

June 5: Chinese researchers charged with smuggling ‘agroterrorism weapon’ to infect Midwest crops

June 5: The Man Who Unsolved a Murder

June 5: Just how bloody was medieval England? A ‘murder map’ holds some surprises.

June 6: After 700 years, has a brutal medieval murder finally been solved?

June 11: French furniture expert and restorer guilty of fake 18th-century chair scam

June 18: 7 charged in connection with the ‘largest jewelry heist in US history,’ prosecutors say

June 22: Mystery as huge $2.1M sculptures vanish from LA warehouse

June 27: Japan hangs ‘Twitter killer’ in first execution since 2022

June 28: Two men found guilty in deaths of 53 migrants in Texas will spend rest of their lives in prison

July Issue: It Was Already One of Texas’s Strangest Cold Cases. Then a Secretive Figure Appeared. [this is a long article, very odd, very interesting – JB]

SHARK!!!: “large, voracious fish,” by 1560s, perhaps mid-15th C., if an isolated instance in a diary quoted in Middle English Compendium is the same word, of uncertain origin.

The meaning “dishonest person who preys on others,” though attested from 1599 (sharker “artful swindler” in this sense is from 1594), may be the original sense, later transferred to the large, voracious marine fish. If so, it is possibly from German Schorck, a variant of Schurke “scoundrel, villain,” agent noun of Middle High German schürgen (German schüren) “to poke, stir.”

On an old theory, the English word is from a Mayan word, xoc, which might have meant “shark.” Northern Europeans seem not to have been familiar with the larger sort of sharks before voyages to the tropics began. A slightly earlier name for it in English was tiburon, from Spanish tiburón (1520s), which probably is from a native word from South America, such as Tupi uperu “shark” (source also of Portuguese tubarão, Catalan tauró).

Middle English had hound-fish (early 14th C.), which probably was used of dogfish and other small sharks. The general Germanic word seems to be represented by Old Norse har (Norwegian hai, Danis haj, Dutch haai, German Hai, also borrowed in Finnish, Latvian), which is of unknown origin. French requin is literally “grimacer,” from Norman requin, from Old French reschignier “to bare the teeth, grimace.”

An ancient Greek word for a shark was karkharias, from karkharos “sharp, jagged, biting,” but the old theory that traces the English word to this has been dropped. Other Greek words for large selachians were aetos, bous, lamia, narkē; skylion was “dogfish.” Latin used squalus, from the root of English whale (n.); Lithuanian ryklys is literally “swallower.”

The English word was applied (or re-applied) to voracious or predatory persons, on the image of the fish, from 1707 (originally of pick-pockets); loan shark is attested from 1905.

There is the ordinary Brown Shark, or sea attorney, so called by sailors; a grasping, rapacious varlet, that in spite of the hard knocks received from it, often snapped viciously at our steering oar. [Herman Melville, “Mardi”]

The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with Recipes) by Kate Lebo

Unsurprisingly, as a kid, I got sick. The ailment of choice that ruined many a Halloween, Christmas, and the seven hours of respite my daily attendance of elementary school afforded my mom — was bronchitis. Or, as I called it, ‘The Arc-Arcs’ since the uncontrollable coughing fits, which routinely left my lungs burning and gasping for breath, reminded me of the barking calls of seals. 

Although I cannot recall which of the world’s pinnipeds owns the dubious distinction of inspiring this phlegm based nickname, I suspect it’s more exotic than Phoca vitulina — also known as the common harbor seal. Mainly because I can’t recall spotting one of these bespeckled mammals swimming in the sea or lounging on a rock in the Puget Sound as a kid.

Please don’t get the wrong idea; my family and I spent tons of time on various beaches along the coast. However, like many families, we had our own traditions. Meaning: Whenever we visited Birch Bay, Deceptions Pass, Ocean Shores, and other similar places, we didn’t go for mindful beach strolls. 

We hunted for agates. 

An activity mom said wasn’t a competition, but it totally was and left little time for gazing past the waves lapping towards my toes.    

So, in all probability, my nickname for bronchitis came by way of a fever dream. Inspired by either an episode of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom or a bit during a Looney Tunes cartoon I listened to whilst curled up on the living room couch, hovering in the liminal space between wakefulness and sleep. 

Although I cannot recall the origin story of ‘The Arc-Arcs,’ its cure remains indelibly stamped in my memory. 

Stored on the top shelf of my folks’ old mustard yellow refrigerator, as instructed by the label neatly affixed to the tall brown plastic bottle, the antibiotic necessary to cure what ailed me came in the form of a thick pink liquid optimistically described as cherry-flavored. 

And it tasted about as close to real cherries — as you are on the family tree to that third cousin twice removed on your father’s side that always shows up to family reunions smelling like blue cheese that’s sat out on the kitchen counter for three days in August. You might share the same surname, hair color, and distant relative, but that’s about it.

Despite the fact it’s been a solid thirty-five years since I’ve needed to choke down that medicine every four hours until the bottle was empty, save the fresh fruit I pick from a neighborhood tree — the memory of this mixture has rendered cherry in fillings, liqueurs, jams, spreads, ice creams, trifles, and smoothies pretty much inedible. 

It’s these interconnected memories that make Cherries a difficult fruit for me. In The Book of Difficult Fruit, Kate Lebo layers her perspective, history, knowledge, and experience to build insightful essays on what makes her alphabetical list of 26 fruits difficult. 

In far more eloquent prose than my own.

At the end of each chapter, Lebo includes two recipes that can serve as a safety net if you’ve always wondered what you could do with aronia, elderberry, faceclock, or durian. 

You can’t have a book on difficult fruit without durian.

Mind you, The Book of Difficult Fruit isn’t always a light read. From discussing why she walked out on someone she shared her life with for several years to trying to figure out the reason her grandparents disowned her two aunts — there are some heavy memories associated with these fruits. But through practiced skill, Lebo manages to make these memories accessible by showing you the weight she still carries without piling it on your shoulders.

Honestly, I cannot say enough nice things about this book. I would’ve gobbled it down whole if I had not traveled to Colorado for a few days and then misplaced it for a week upon returning home. I would highly recommend these essays revolving around fruit and life to anyone who enjoys reading books about food sprinkled with interesting facts or catching a glimpse of how someone else dealt with life’s difficulties. 

Not knowing

“Gibson, who’d seen the inside of enough cells enough to be counted as an expert, once told me something interesting. He said that the worst part of getting busted, worse even than being caught in the first place, was the period between capture and conviction. He told me that it was like being trapped in limbo, but as soon as the judge passed sentence, he felt a sense of relief because a decision had been made and he could now set about figuring out how to accommodate himself to it. There was nothing worse than not knowing, he said…“

When I read those words in John Connolly’s new “Charlie Parker” series, The Children of Eve, they hit me hard. Especially the last sentence.

“There was nothing worse than not knowing...”

That sums up Charlie Parker perfectly, and in The Children of Eve he proves it. Charlie accepts a case to find a missing man, no big deal, but the more trouble he has finding Wyatt, the more determined he becomes. Even after he’s called off, he just can’t stop.

Charlie just has to know. He doesn’t have to administer justice or bring the bad guys in but he has to know for sure what happened, and that’s a huge part of why he gets into so much trouble. He can’t just let it go. Once he’s on the trail, he’s gotta follow it to the end. No matter what.

In The Children of Eve, the mistake – well, one of many – the bad guys make is tugging at a thread that gets back to Charlie. This fight isn’t his, the players don’t even know he exists and the evil they awaken doesn’t care about Charlie either. But once he’s on the case, multiple things go wrong because of course they do.

But Charlie just has to know.

And that’s what I love about him. John Connolly‘s created a character whose compulsion has become mine, and that’s the mark of an extraordinary writer.

Also, I think he’s hinting at where the series is going to go, and I’m puppy-wiggling in excitement! Read it and tell me if you see what I see.

I know, I know, I said I wasn’t reviewing new books, but…John Connolly. I mean, how could I not? Back to reruns next month. Maybe. Probably. We’ll see.

My father was a dedicated golfer, to the exclusion of all else – except for work, which was required to pay the membership fee to the course… of course. I am certain that one of his great disappointments in life was the he couldn’t mold me into a golfer. Anyone who knows me even a little knows I haven’t the temperament for that game.

“I eventually won the game on the eighteenth, when Robinson conceded the hole after several shots in a bunker and a series of increasingly lurid linguistic outbursts.” Like Robinson, I would’ve been swearing up a storm and garnering the disapproval of the rusty Dr. John H. Watson.

J.M. Gregson’s Sherlock Holmes and the Frightened Golfer finds Watson doing the legwork of poking around for answers as to why someone is harassing the secretary of the Blackheath Club. Watson’s clubs had been gathering dust in the attic of 221B Baker St, the first time that we know there is an attic there. As he improves his game, he begins to gather information to take back to Holmes. Eventually, threats elevate to gunfire and our duo race to stop it.

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My review of Caroline Fraser’s important and unsettling book, Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers was posted a few days ago. The review is longer than what we generally post here, hence the solo post. Please read the review and please read the book.

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Carl Hiaasen has returned with a grown-up serving of satire and salacious lunacy. And it is not only about time, it is perfectly timed.

Beach Fever finds a rag-tag band of inept white nationalists who aim to make a name for themselves with the help of a nitwit congressman who has front teeth that look like “dentures for a Clydesdale” and whose cologne smells like “a gardenia bed sprinkled with kerosene“. As with any of his books, expect corruption from nearly everyone, destruction of the natural world, and a sense that the weirdness will never cease, and a couple of normal people who will try to beat the stooges as their own games.

The racist band is a real group of winners. The Strokesz for Liberty are, luckily, their own worst enemies. To give you an idea of the quality of these numbskulls, their leader continually mangles the language:

“‘I got one of them high-risk condition.’ “Which is…?’ ‘I’m a type 2 diabolic.”

“‘The rise of the international Jewish cowbell.’ ‘You mean cabal.'”

“‘I need ten grand,’ Figgo said. ‘What the hell for?’ ‘To hire a lawyer. He wants a reclaimer’. ‘Retainer, you mean.'”

As if that’s not ridiculous enough, he’s unable of drawing a swastika correctly. Their first attempt to get press resulted in them getting their asses handed to them at a gay bar on Key West’s major thoroughfare. Hard to know what is more amusing – their pathetic actions and thoughts or the way they’re beat down.

One would like to think that all of this is simply some sardonic satire. But remember – Hiaasen swears he has to calm down the lunacy. If he wrote about what happens in Florida as it really happens, no one would believe him! The antics in Fever Beach feel all too real to me – but I admit to giggling all the way through it.

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For a punch of hardboiled pulp, jump over to the latest iteration of my image blog: old magazines (mystery, crime, true crime and more) and paperbacks, from the 20s to, well, whatever new fits in.

seattlemysteryhardboiled.com

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