Stop You’re Killing Me (SYKM) is a website dedicated to crime fiction books. Its index at the top of every page can connect you with mysteries and thrillers of nearly 5,900 authors, both contemporary and from the past. It is a valuable resource. I have been using SYKM multiple times a month for the last 18 years. At times you will wonder why you cannot find a specific author in … Continue reading
by J. Kingston Pierce on The Rap Sheet (blog) Re-Published here with permission. Banned Books Week 2025 began yesterday and continues through this coming Saturday, October 11. As the organizers explain, “Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. Held in the last week of September or first week of October, the annual event … Continue reading
This is only my 2nd post here in 2024. And it relates to my first post back in January where I discussed the number of mystery books that various reviewers I admire read. One of them, George Easter read 121 books in 2023. That is beyond my capacity, but in that post I suggested I might: READ ONE BOOK A WEEK. No, I couldn’t do that at all. My total … Continue reading
“Do you read a lot?” you ask. “I don’t know, compared to what?” I respond. On December 13, with still 18 days to go, George Easter, editor of Deadly Pleasures, wrote on his blog: “My reading goal for 2023 was to read 120 mysteries, crime novels and thrillers. Today the count stands at 121 read. So my goal was reached.” Holy book pages, Batman! Gosh all Fiddlesticks! Damn, that’s amazing!! … Continue reading
I was introduced to Dame (Edith) Ngaio Marsh 19 years ago during my first Christmas in the Mystery Book Club at Manchester Library. The book was appropriately, Tied Up in Tinsel, the 27th book in Marsh’s Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn series. Her first book was in 1934 and her last, the year of her death, was in 1982. Alleyn presents as a British “gentleman detective” – schooled at Eton, … Continue reading
“British” – The story takes place in the United Kingdom of Great Britain with British law enforcement officers (LEOs). It can be written by writers that live inside or outside of the UK. “Police Procedural” – It is a sub-genre of crime fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as contrasted with other genres that focus on non-police investigators … Continue reading
Expect spoilers in the bottom half of this post – the beginning of this post is only a repeat of the information provided about the book that was provided at the start of the month, before the meeting. Then halfway down the page we report some of the discussion from the meeting which likely includes spoilers. Your comments, corrections, additions, clarifications are welcome at the end. We read Better the Blood … Continue reading
There are no spoilers for the top part of this post – the beginning of this post is only a repeat of the information provided about the book that was provided at the start of the month, before the meeting. But….. Near the bottom of the page, there is a place for our participants to leave comments about the book, and spoilers will likely be included. Don’t scroll down to the comments area, until you … Continue reading
There are no spoilers for the top part of this post – the beginning of this post is only a repeat of the information provided about the book that was provided at the start of the month, before the meeting. But….. Near the bottom of the page, there is a place for our participants to leave comments about the book, and spoilers will likely be included. Don’t scroll down to … Continue reading
We read The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker for the March 31, 2023 meeting. There are no spoilers for the top part of this post – the beginning of this post is only a repeat of the information provided about the book that was provided at the start of the month, before the meeting. But….. Near the bottom of the page, there is a place for our participants to … Continue reading
LET'S PLAY CLUE: Was it MBC member Dick Goutal, in the garden, using the poisonous plant, Black Henbane?
