‘Against the Darkness’ (2024) duly wraps Blake’s ‘Frankie’ trilogy
‘Buffy’ flashback (Book review): This is ultimately an unremarkable “what if” saga about Willow having a Gen-Z Slayer-witch offspring.
Marlowe also operates in short form in ‘Trouble is My Business’ (1950, 1992)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): These four short stories were originally part of the “Simple Art of Murder” collection before being pulled out into their own book.
MacDonald expands the definition of a mystery in ‘Green Ripper’ (1979)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): The 18th Travis McGee book treads into grimly realistic territory wherein a mystery isn’t solvable in a traditionally satisfying way.
‘Imaginary Strangers’ (2024) excitingly internalizes the mystery-thriller
Book club book report: Minka Kent convincingly brings us into the mind of a nonviolent sociopath who pursues clues that her children are in danger.
McGee takes on the Drug War in ‘Dreadful Lemon Sky’ (1974)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Under the pen of John D. MacDonald, even a case the media loses interest in becomes a page-turner.
‘The Quick Red Fox’ (1964) is not a lazy dog of a novel
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): In his fourth Travis McGee novel, John D. MacDonald explores the various debaucheries of fame and money.
Westlake’s ‘Jimmy the Kid’ (1974) and the ‘fiction vs. reality’ conundrum
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): The prolific crime-fiction author knows how to have absurdist (yet realistic) fun by undercutting clichés at every turn.
Marriage, murder awkwardly mix in ‘Busman’s Honeymoon’ (1937)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Sayers wraps her Harriet Vane quadrilogy with a decent mystery and a plodding start to the Vane-Wimsey marriage.
Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’ (1966) is a book I could read again
Book club book report: Capote uses cold, hard facts to ask timelessly unanswerable questions about human nature and justice.
‘Gaudy Night’ (1935) explores chaos of changing times on campus
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Ambitious yet flawed, the Oxford-set 10th Wimsey novel is an essential read for fans of Sayers’ alter-ego Harriet Vane.