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Tales from the Wild: Tricksters, justice, and the Floridian Way in Gator Country
I think I’ve mentioned that I grew up in Florida. You might not expect a young reader to care particularly about the Floridian environment. But the Sunshine State is home to an extensive literature full of love for Florida, its wilderness, and its people. I bit my teeth on Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot and Flush, loved…
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TCO Reviews: The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
The January rain in San Francisco always makes me want to curl up with a blanket, a steaming mug, and a cozy book. After the rush of holidays, it’s nice to use the quiet space to rest my body and my spirit. So I have been looking especially forward to this next ARC of The…
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Argylle and the modern marketing menace
So, I succumbed to the hype. It feels like I’ve been hearing about the mystery of Elly Conway for months. The massive bidding war for the book – and then the distribution rights to the film. The mysterious Insta account. The Swift rumors. Underlying it all, a thrilling spy novel that could be the start…
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TCO Reviews: The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller
Perhaps my favorite class in high school was Art History. I loved everything about it – learning about the stories behind each slide, both the depictions and the stories of creation. And, surprising nobody, the art world has always intrigued me, particularly art crime. (I have a sizable collection of books on forgery!) So when…
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Modern(ish) mystery: First impressions of Cover Her Face
New year, new… murder mystery series, I guess. This year’s holiday reading binge introduce me to P.D. James, and I enjoyed her writing enough to try and explore it further. The short stories I read had flavors of the classic English mysteries I love, but with a little more darkness. There was something about the…
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TCO Reviews: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Man oh man do I feel lucky about my January ARC lineup. It’s been a minute since I’ve really indulged in fantasy stories, but by fair my favorite sub-genre is hard fantasy. If the book has complex political intrigue and (ideally) a good dose of economic speculation, I will munch it right up. And perhaps…
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The “bookish” bar: Mislabeling The Library of the Unwritten
The Library of Hell. A mysterious and powerful book. At least three librarians characters. A book combining mystery, action, and fantasy – sounds like a recipe for literary fun, right? That’s what I was hoping for when I picked up A. J. Hackwith’s The Library of the Unwritten. Specifically, I wanted a new series that…
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TCO Reviews: Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
One of my very first ARC reviews was Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. I still remember inhaling it on the plane last year, amazed at every new twist and turn. It had been so long since a modern mystery excited me, and I felt so lucky to be reading it. And…
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A matter of perspective: Ensemble intros and finales in The Murder Game
Happy New Year! It’s Monday the first and that means we are BACK to more typical TCO fare. And what better way to ring in the New Year than with a closed-circle murder mystery that takes place on New Year’s Eve? Tom Hindle’s The Murder Game promises all of the above, with a fun twist:…