Reviews + Articles

Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade

Johnny Careless may be Kevin Wade's debut novel, but he was a screenwriter and showrunner for "Blue Bloods" for years, so he has experience with police procedurals. Jeep Mullane is Police Chief in Bayville, near Long Island, but he answers to four mayors, some of...

Mark Baker’s Favorites of 2024

Thanks to Mark Baker for sending his list of Favorite Books read in 2024. We don't talk about it during the year, but I always like to point out Mark's own blog when we do this annual feature. If you're a fan of cozy mysteries, you might want to check out Carstairs...

What Are You Reading?

I worry about all of you. I watched the weather, and saw the mudslides in California, and I know Mark mentioned the possibilities of them last week. I hope you're okay, Mark! And, of course, it's bitterly cold here in the Midwest, although we didn't get as much...

The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu

What a sad, interesting book. The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu is translated into English by Jesse Kirkwood, who also translated The Full Moon Coffee Shop, among other books. While the blanket cats themselves are the only link between seven stories, each of...

The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea by C.L. Miller

My only complaint about C.L. Miller's The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea was the large number of characters. You might want to keep score as you're reading it. Other than that, it's a fast-paced mystery set in the world of black market antiques. It's obvious...

The Quiet LIbrarian by Allen Eskens

Allen Eskens' standalone, The Quiet Librarian, is not an easy book to read with its descriptions of violence and war in Bosnia. But, like The Life We Bury, it's a book we should read. In 1995, Nura Divjak was a Muslim teenager living in Bosnia with her family until...