Tag: mystery

Posted on

#BookReview: The Swamps by Seraphina Nova Glass

Short Xennial Scooby-Doo Type Tale. This is one of those books that is great for an early-year release (and end of January certainly qualifies, in my mind), because it is a 200 page very quick read. Easy win to get moving on your reading goals for the year, even if those goals measure in the single digits or low double digits.

It is also a very fun tale squarely aimed at Xennials (those of us born between 1977 ish and 1984 ish) now solidly in their 40s who grew up with several great renditions of Scooby-Doo cartoons, as this is very much effectively an adult version of a Scooby-Doo mystery. Minus the van and the dog, and adding a bit more of a Scream/ I Know What You Did Last Summer vibe. Again, pretty *squarely* targeting a specific population… but this is also a fun enough book that more general audiences will likely enjoy it nearly as much, *perhaps* even more.

Now, there *is* a scene or two of jalapeno or so spiciness, so those that prefer their tales no more spicy than a warm glass of milk… you do you. That scene is only just the one scene really, and actually adds far more depth to the story overall than similar scenes in romance novels, so I thought it actually worked rather well in this particular tale.

Overall just some fun “turn your brain off and enjoy the ride” (oh, wait. maybe a little *too* meta there in the review, considering the last paragraph 😉 ) type of tale that again, is a very quick read great for jumpstarting whatever annual reading goals you may have for yourself – if you have any at all. Or maybe you just need some pure escapism generally. This tale will work perfectly in that regard too.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Swamps by Seraphina Nova Glass was originally written on December 14, 2025.

Posted on

#BlogTour: The Library Of Fates by Margot Harrison

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a strong magical realism/ romance/ mystery combo that leaves off a discussion that could have taken this book from solid to transcendental. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Library Of Fates by Margot Harrison.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Strong Magical Realism/ Romance/ Mystery Combo. This book had a lot of things for a lot of readers, but curiously, it only had a single line or two about a real world version of itself. But more on that in a moment.

The mysteries here are solid. There’s a dual timeline going on, mostly set in the world just before the collapse in 2020, with the “current” timeline being set in late 2019 and the “then” timeline being back in the 1990s. When the two different mysteries converge… things get quite interesting indeed, setting up one hell of a climax that will take your breath away. As in, if you go into that section just before bed… just plan to stay up a bit later than normal. Once you get there in particular, you’re not going to want to put this book down.

The romance plays out across both timelines as well, with some interesting complications due to the events of the mystery sides of the tale, and is reasonably paced throughout. Nothing overly spicy here, perhaps somewhere between a warm glass of milk and a jalapeno. Maybe somewhere around a Banana or Poblano pepper? Enough that the warm glass of milk crowd may get a little antsy, but also so little that the crowd that barely thinks a habanero is anything at all may not even think there is any spice to be had here at all. I mean, these are college students brought together in an unusual and magical circumstance. Yes, things are going to happen.

But the one thing that hangs over this entire book is the one thing that Harrison only devotes a line or two to – the fact that the very thing that is supposed to be magical about this book, tech in 2025 can already damn near do – and likely will be fully capable of within the next five years or so. While it may not be an *exact* analogue to the magical bit of this book – in that it won’t be a singular book for everyone – AI is largely already to the point that for many readers, particularly those who only read a few books a year or even a few books a decade, AI can already give them a book tailored specifically to their own interests that is largely compelling enough for those exact types of readers. And yes, this is going to be a problem for authors going forward. What happens when the tech gets good enough to satisfy even those of us who read hundreds of books per year? Harrison could have used even her magical version here to perhaps explore this possibility more in a “pre-AI” magical world, but instead uses this part of the magic as more of a macguffin or even an end game set piece than really exploring this idea in any real depth. Which, to this reader, is perhaps a lost opportunity to take a solid mystery/ romance and have it get that much deeper and more timeless.

Still, for what this story actually is and what it actually does, it actually does – *ahem* – all things – *ahem* – quite well within its world, and this is absolutely a book that a lot of different types of readers will be able to enjoy quite a bit.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Library Of Fates by Margot Harrison”

Posted on

#BlogTour: No One Aboard by Emy McGuire

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a solid ‘second screen’ mystery. For this blog tour, we’re looking at No One Aboard by Emy McGuire.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Solid ‘Second Screen’ Book. Apparently there is a concept Netflix show/ movie producers call ‘second screen’ – meaning, essentially, that the video must be produced and the story easy enough to follow even as someone is actually doing something else. Thus, actions are spoken – “I’m cutting the veggies now” – and are loud and concise. Rather than simply showing the character cutting the veggies. Plots are simplified and characters a bit more stereotypical than perhaps fully fleshed out, nuanced, “real” people.

This is *exactly* that kind of book – and there is absolutely *NOTHING* wrong with that. Netflix is making bank right now on exactly this type of content, so why shouldn’t authors take a stab at it as well? Not everything has to be a hyper complicated, hyper real “oh, you missed on page 33 paragraph 3 sentence 2 that this thing had this hyper specific property” kind of tale to be enjoyable. Quite the opposite, I would argue – sometimes, *particularly* during the holidays, you really want something you can just consume while vegging out a bit yourself. Many romance novels – the “bubblegum pop” and “Hallmarkie” ones in particular – offer exactly this level of escapism, so why can’t mystery tales have this from time to time?

For what this book actually *is*, it really is a solid work of its type. One that is enjoyable even at its near-400 page length, and one that can work in exactly the kinds of scenarios I describe above – where perhaps you need some time during the hectic holiday season to simply zone out with a good enough book – quite well indeed.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: No One Aboard by Emy McGuire”

Posted on

#BookReview: Tell Me Why by Kay Bratt

Another Solid Entrant Where Bratt’s Heart Is Tattooed On Her Upper Arm With Her Sleeves Down. For a series that was *supposed* to end at Book 7 or so to now have doubled that speaks to just how popular it has become among fans of the author. That the new books continue to sell and continue to bring in new fans speaks to how well the author is crafting both each individual entry and the overall arc of the series. I know in my own reviews I’ve noted before the series was supposed to end at this book or that book or whatever, but at this point it seems that Bratt will be containing this series through the rest of her writing days.

With this particular entry and its particular crime, Bratt’s heart shines through in more muted and subtle ways than in both previous entrants in this series and in Bratt’s prior works such as her True To Me series or (where I first “met” Bratt) in Dancing With The Sun… and yet equally powerful as those other books, when you know her story. (That she speaks of from time to time publicly, to be clear.) Bratt’s loves are never far from her mind, and always shine through in her writing when you know where you’re looking… and yet when you *don’t* know these details, she still provides an all-t00-real look into far too many of our own families and, in her fictional world, gives us hope that all can work out as well as Bratt makes it work out here. Which isn’t to say there won’t be tragedy, just that the family *will* work through whatever tragedies may come – and celebrate whatever successes may come too.

The heart of the Hart’s Ridge community – and of the Gray family in particular – is what makes this series so strong, so what is coming next for those hearts following the events here…

I for one am looking forward to finding out. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Tell Me Why by Kay Bratt was originally written on November 21, 2025.

Posted on

#BookReview: With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee

Strong Tale Of The Travails Of Friendship After College. This is one of those tales where, as someone in his 40s who graduated college 20 yrs ago this year himself and who has maintained at least a couple of friendships since that era, I get it. Now, my friends and I were nowhere near as complicated as these ladies. There were no secret houses or anything remotely like that at our then-commuter school that was just on the cusp of creating its first actual dorms as I was graduating. Our football team was “still undefeated”… because it didn’t exist yet. And yet, as I type this review just a couple of weeks before Selection Sunday 2025, there is a chance that that very same football team goes to a bowl for the first time in school history this year! (Go Kennesaw State Owls!)

Even so the book, for me, evokes the fireside scene in the 2017 Power Rangers movie (and particularly the soundtrack playing in that scene) and even elements of the John Knowles classic A Separate Peace or the more obscure One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick. Those beautifully tragic moments when you realize that all that you thought you knew, you never really had a clue, and yet there is still that essence there that is exactly what you always knew, that essence that drew you to these people to begin with, that was truly the foundation of your friendship.

Now, there is a lot going on in this book, and yes, there are elements of both ‘literary fiction’ and thriller that make for an interesting merger, but I actually thought Lee did a solid job with said merger. The tale gets chaotic at times, even though told from a single perspective… but I almost think that was the very intent. Lee *needed* the reader to *feel* the chaos around these characters in these situations, and this was the best vehicle to really bring that out.

Overall, this is truly a book that won’t work for everyone. I suspect Lee knows that, or at least I hope she does. But for those it works for, I think it has the potential to *really* work for. Will it be remembered and studied ala A Separate Peace? Unlikely. Is it an enjoyable short ish (sub 250 page) book that can be a fun yet cathartic diversion during the cold winter months? Absolutely.

Very much recommended.

This review of With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee was originally written on November 19, 2025.

Posted on

#BookReview: The Knives Before Christmas by J. Kent Holloway

Solid Laid Back Cozy Florida Mystery – With Magical Realism Tossed In. This is the book that exactly one person alive was capable of writing – particularly writing this well. That person being St. Augustine-based medical investigator and now pastor of a St. Augustine area church, Kent Holloway.

I’ve known Holloway for years. I first started reading his works when he began working as a coauthor with The New God Of Science Fiction Jeremy Robinson, and I’ve read most of his independent works since – even his nonfiction book I Swallowed A Goldfish, where he looks at his older day job (medical investigator) through the eyes of his newer one (pastor). I either know of or have read every project he names in the Author’s Note at the end of this tale, and I was largely around when he was coming up with all of them. Living in Jacksonville myself for nearly a decade now, I even finally got a chance to meet Holloway in real life a couple of years ago now… when Robinson came to St. Augustine and brought his annual gathering of fans and colleagues, Robinsonfest, with him.

As noted in the Author’s Note, years ago Holloway wrote a book called The Legend Of The Winterking. In its level of detail and blending of both fantasy and Christian lore – but with Holloway’s own particular Christmas-focused bent to it – it really did seem capable of standing right up there with Lewis and Tolkien. As I don’t read fantasy, I don’t *know* this, but being familiar with the overall stories of all three authors – despite never having read a word of any of their fantasies – I feel confident enough in saying that. Winterking was supposed to be Holloway’s Magnum Opus. It was going to be glorious and make Holloway as famous as those other two. Wait. Has anyone ever heard of them? 😉

Here, with this particular tale, Holloway actually does *better* than he has ever done before – including with Winterking. Yes, you heard that right. This long time fan and reader of Holloway is openly proclaiming *this* to be his best book yet – and I have strong thoughts on this.

Who else beyond Holloway would be able to create a Tolkien-level world… and then when that project failed, instead use it as a magical realism deep background element to an Agatha Christie level cozy murder mystery… that happened to be based both at Christmas and in Christmas, Florida? I know many more Florida based authors, from the few native Floridians to be found these days to transplants who have lived here various lengths of time, both longer and shorter than I’ve lived here myself. Literally not one of them – talented authors all in their own rights, many of whom I am an active fan of – could have pulled something quite like this off. Sure, many of them have done emotional family mysteries of various levels. A few have done scifi epics. But none of them have been able to combine fantasy and cozy mystery the way Holloway has here, and it shows just how strong a storyteller he really can be.

Who else could take the real-world Christmas, FL – a town on the opposite outskirts of Orlando from that place with the castle famously ruled by a rodent, a town that literally doesn’t have so much as a stop sign on its main road through town, a town where it is more than possible to imagine the rampant (recovering) alcoholism Holloway incorporates into this book being all too real – and use it quite the way Holloway has here? Even with the blatant set up of the name, I’ve not yet encountered anyone.

And yet Holloway takes all of this, takes his deep Christian faith and his deep love of all things Christmas (the holiday), and creates… this truly remarkable cozy mystery that somehow blends all of this, along with quite a bit of both heart and hilarity, into a tale that will be unlike most anything you will ever read from any other author.

Now, because of all of this – the several mentions of alcoholism throughout the book, the focus on Christmas, the magical realism based in nothing you’ve likely ever heard of before, the sheer number of characters (though from only a single perspective), the merry-yet-acknowledging-the-darkness, the (off screen) referenced child abuse, the (behind the door) attempt to cajole a young adult lady to have sex (played for both heart and a touch of comedic relief, to be clear), and perhaps any number of other issues… maybe this book isn’t for you. You do you. But I’m telling you as someone who has read over 150 books this year, who has read nearly 1800 books in a decade now… this is one of the most singularly unique books I’ve ever encountered, in so many of the best possible ways. Do what you need to do for your own mental health, I’ll never say otherwise there (so long as you’re not harming anyone else, that is, and choosing not to read a book is not harming anyone). But I’m not going to hide my opinion that this book is great for *all* readers.

Ultimately, this could yet be the opening chapter in Holloway’s true Magnum Opus. It truly is the best book he has written to date, bar none, and I for one cannot wait to see where he takes this world next.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Knives Before Christmas by J. Kent Holloway was originally written on November 18, 2025.

Jeff and the author at Robinsonfest 2024:

The entire Robinsonfest 2024 crowd on the pirate ship in St. Augustine. Jeff is at the front along the right rail, the author is in front of Jeff in the black shirt.

Posted on

#BookReview: The New Year’s Party by Jenna Satterthwaite

No Angels. No Demons. Only Humans. This is one of those tales that has a lot going against it – multiple perspectives, pretty well everyone is “unlikeable” at best, etc. And yet… that is the very *strength* of this particular tale.

I for one enjoy and even embrace tales where humanity is shown in all of its highs – and lows. Where people are shown to be exactly what they are – flawed creatures simply trying to live their lives the best they can. Where no matter how angelic someone appears, there is clearly a demon hiding just under the surface, and no matter how demonic a person appears, there is an angel hiding in there somewhere. (Eh, maybe a fallen angel, but still an angel. 😉 )

That Satterthwaite uses a fairly standard-ish overall plot of high school friends reuniting after several years apart to tell this particular story actually works well to establish expectations… which makes it even better when she actively subverts these very expectations at nearly every turn.

Fans of the particular story type and overall genre will have enough here to sink their teeth into and enjoy, while those like me who enjoy having something “more” will find a fair amount of that here as well.

Indeed, looking back to my review of Satterthwaite’s 2024 debut, Made For You, it seems here that Satterthwaite leaned into the better parts of her storytelling in that tale, threw out the bits that didn’t work so well, and used the remaining time to really tighten up what worked so well there and really do it even better here. Thus, showing strong progression as a storyteller that indeed makes me want to come back for book 3 to see what she has in store for us next, and if she can continue to improve her storytelling and potentially evolve it even further.

Very much recommended.

This review of The New Year’s Party by Jenna Satterthwaite was originally written on November 17, 2025.

Posted on

#BlogTour: The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a solid tale in its genre that has a bit of a chaotic and potentially controversial opening. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Don’t Let Your Opinions Of Over The Top Gender Reveals, Guns, or Multi-Perspective Stories Fool You – This Is A Solid Book. Seriously, this is one of those books where the *opening scene* has a lot of ick for a lot of people – me included, to an extent. Indeed, I delayed reading this book for a week in part because of the very inciting incident literally listed in the first sentence of the description as of publication day earlier this week as I write this review. (Yes, I’ve had it as an Advance Review Copy for months and yes, I’m officially running behind. Apologies.)

You see, while I have exactly *zero* problems with guns and enjoy a good Tannerite explosion from time to time (on video, never experienced one in person), the over the top gender reveal and thus making a pregnancy a central point of this story… that was the ick for me.

And I was wrong.

Yes, the opening scene is complex and more than a bit confusing and perhaps even accurately labeled as hard to follow.

But the story opens up from there and becomes much easier to understand, even as it revolves around small town and family secrets and decades long mysteries all coming to a head.

Gudenkauf creates here a truly layered story with many things going on at the same time, in the mold of some of the best soap operas – and yet with a fair degree more danger involved.

Overall truly a fun book once one gets beyond the chaotic opening scene, one that plays very well within genre norms without really pushing the boundaries too hard. In other words, a perfectly comfortable read for genre fans that works well enough for those looking to see whether they enjoy this genre.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf”

Posted on

#BookReview: Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead

Solid Sophomore Southern Suspense. This is a tale that builds on its predecessor, Broken Bayou, in an unexpected direction for readers of Broken Bayou – one of the secondary, yet essential, characters gets her own tale here. Which would be expected in the romance genre, but in mystery/ suspense is far less common.

And yet Moorhead absolutely makes this work. There’s enough of the Bayou here that there are at least a few spoilers from that book, but not so much that you absolutely *have* to have read it first, and thus new readers (who don’t mind a few minor ish spoilers) can come into this book without stressing about not having read Bayou first. (Though you *should* read Bayou too, as it is an excellent tale in its own right.)

Yet there is also quite the tale to be told here, and as deep as Willa’s tale was in the Bayou… this tale may even run a touch deeper. It certainly expands its world a touch, if only in that certain players have larger connections than just Ms. Meade’s home town. And yet as someone who grew up in and around similar connections – which I can’t really detail at all without revealing who some of the players in this tale are – this struck me as perhaps a touch *too* real in some aspects. Clearly, Moorhead has some similar life experiences of her own to get it *this* spot on.

Truly an excellent small town Southern mystery tale that manages to raise a lot of real world emotions without ever getting preachy about any actual real world issue, which is perhaps one of Moorhead’s great strengths as a storyteller, at least as shown in this series.

Very much recommended.

This review of Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead was originally written on November 2, 2025.

Posted on

#BookReview: Broken Bayou by Jennifer Moorhead

Excellent Debut. This is one of those books I randomly picked up as an Amazon First Read… and then only read it over a year after its initial publication when I was getting ready to read its sequel as an Advance Review Copy.

Y’all… I missed out. This book is truly quite excellent, with a solid plot revolving around a broken woman from a small town having to go back to said town to hide from new problems… and ultimately have a reckoning with past ones too.

As someone from a “small” (yet thriving and growing) Southern town who has indeed seen many more rural towns actively dying off largely similarly to how the town in this book is portrayed, this absolutely strikes as a fictional book that is uncomfortably all too real.

The mysteries of both the past and the present work remarkably well as our lead character tries to reconcile her memories with what she actually sees in front of her today, and along the way we get some very dusty rooms in more ways than one.

Oh, and the murders themselves? I’ve seen more chilling in books… but this is certainly one I’d never seen used in any other book, and is pretty damn chilling itself.

Very much recommended.

This review of Broken Bayou by Jennifer Moorhead was originally written on September 30, 2025.