The anthology Top Suspense: Favorite Kills features 12 very strong suspense tales. Assembled and published in 2011 by Top Suspense Group the short stories are ones that were previously published in various places. Due to their length as short stories one can’t go into too much detail without giving away spoilers, but much is at work in each one of them. They all are good ones and a couple are downright creepy bordering on the horrific.

The award winning story, “Archie’s Been Framed” by Dave Zeltsman gets things going. Julius has plenty of money in the bank and can enjoy the finer things in life for a while. He has no reason to work until Archie is framed for the murder of  27 year old Denise Penny. If the nature of Archie’s existence were revealed that is not an option.  Julius does not have a choice – he has to investigate and clear Archie.

Bordering on the horrific in this reader’s opinion is the next story by Harry Shannon titled “Night Nurse” by Harry Shannon. Bud is in the hospital and suffering big time. The only one who seems to have any compassion is his ongoing medical drama is his night nurse.

Several of the Solomon and Lord series by Paul Levine are on my e-book tbr pile. In this anthology, Solomon and Lord appear in “Solomon and Lord Drop Anchor.” Steve Solomon plans to go out to sea on a boat with Manuel Cruz ostensibly to go fishing. The same Miguel Cruz they are about to sue after he embezzled three million from a local car dealership nearly making the elderly owner bankrupt. Victoria Lord knows her law partner isn’t telling her everything and she intends to attend the deep sea business meeting as well to protect her partner and their interests.

The Korean women that perform the massages at the spa in Korea Town seem to be uniform in appearance and anonymity. Ann’s masseuse goes by the name “Number 19” and is supposed to get a $20 tip. But, will she actually get that money and more is questioned in “Number 19” by Naomi Hirahara.

The two elderly women live in Davis, Florida when they can garden a bit, feed some cats, and once a month go to the beach for a swim. They also smoke pot a bit and fantasize about trip to Hawaii.  Then, a homeless guy by the name of Henry becomes part of their lives in “Sweet Dreams” by Vicki Hendricks and things evolve from the normal routine.

Larry and Marge Falls took the trip to Vegas in “House Rules” because Marge desperately wanted to do something new and different. But the trip is not going well and the side trip to Red Rock Canyon hasn’t helped. It’s time for change.

Doing the crime is one thing. Making sure the cover up stays intact is another. That is the premise behind “Angie” by Ed. Gorman. One seriously creepy story with lots at stake for all involved.

For Travis Runnels every single day is a knife fight. Being in jail is just an occupational hazard for him. It is a public defender like Alex Stone who Travis is going to have to rely on to get him out of a death penalty murder case. The fact that she is a Jew and lesbian doesn’t impress him any more than the fact he is an African-American impresses her in “Knife Fight: An Alex Stone Short Story” by Joel Goldman.

If you remember or ever saw “Dragnet” starting Jack Webb you will get a kick out of this one titled “Jack Webb’s Star” by Lee Goldberg.  If you haven’t, go check out at least a couple of episodes first before you read this dark and funny twisted tale. You need the frame of reference.

Holly has had a rough night. At least the kids are okay. But, she really needs to get out of the emergency room in “Restraint” by Stephen Gallagher. She also needs to get her car from the bottom of the embankment before the cops start poking around it too much. This is another dark tale, but nothing funny is at work here.

Texas author Bill Crider is up next with his tale “Top Of The World.” Thanks to Sam Cobb he met Vicky. It might have been better for everyone if they had never crossed paths. She is dangerous and just might get him killed. Or kill him herself.

The final tale is “A Matter Of Principal: a Quarry Story” by Max Allan Collins. Quarry knows he recognizes the guy in the convenience store in the middle of the night. It has been ten years since they last ran into each other and though the guy does not recognize him, Quarry knows him and knows something is up. The only option is to tail him and get some answers and maybe just a little payback.

12 short stories bios of the author involved bring the read to a close.

Published in 2011 by Top Suspense Group, the 12 tales here are all good ones. These are not tales that feature happy people doing happy things. No, the suspense tales here at times push the edge into horror as the characters live difficult lives often on the edges of society. One does what one has to do to survive and that desperation is always at work in Top Suspense: Favorite Kills.

Top Suspense: Favorite Kills
Top Suspense Group
http://topsuspense.blogspot.com/
2011
ASIN: B00757WMQQ
E-Book only
232 Pages
$4.99

According to Amazon I picked this up on March 8, 2014. I have no idea now if I bought it by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account, because it was a free read on that date, or because it was given to me. I had forgotten I even had it until Barry Ergang, who was reading it awhile back, mentioned it to me and I hunted for it.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

We know from the first line of Ruth Rendell’s A Judgement In Stone who did the crime. Eunice Parchman killed the Cloverdale family. We know from the second line of the compelling book the reason why she did it. But, that reason is far more complicated than described. Yet, at the same time, it truly is as simple as described.

What happened at Lowfield Hall, the Cloverdale home located ten miles outside the small village of Stantwich, is fairly clear. Why it happened at the manor home is as complicated as the layers of an onion. If one little thing had been done differently the crime could have been stopped in so many ways. Yet, it wasn’t as events and quite possible fate itself made sure of the crime.

A Judgement In Stone is not a classic mystery. Readers know from the start the crime, the guilty party, and the stated motivation. Instead, the read is a very complicated character study. Not just of the killer Eugene Parchman, but everyone in the book. Her accomplice who is clearly insane by the time of the brutal killings, the victims known as the Cloverdales, as well as the people of the local town, and many others.

Every crime leaves a wake of wreckage in its wake. That wake of wreckage in all its parts– big and small– is what the very good A Judgement In Stone by Ruth Rendell is all about from start to finish.

My thanks to Barry Ergang who provided an e-book version for me to read and review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

Elvis Cole has taken quite a few strange cases over the years and the latest is going to be another one. Amy Breslyn is missing. A senior executive at Woodson Energy Solutions, Meryl Lawrence, wants Amy found fast and very quietly. The company manufactures fuels for the Department of Defense and Amy worked there. Beyond the obvious national security problem with a high level employee disappearing there are other issues.

Amy disappeared, $450,000 is now missing from Amy’s department, and Meryl believes that Amy is being coerced. Meryl wants nobody to know that she hired the “world’s greatest detective” so she paid cash and gave Elvis the bare minimum to get started. He can’t see Amy’s  office or have access to her e-mail or know anything about her work. He knows very little. One of the things he does know includes the fact that Amy’s son, Jacob, died sixteen months ago in a terrorist attack overseas. She also gave him one possible lead which has led Elvis Cole to a house in Echo Park one rainy night.

A lead that is going to result in the involvement of multiple members of the Los Angeles Police Department including K-9 Officer Scott James and his German shepherd, Maggie, a dead bod,  and enough explosives to destroy quite an area. Things are just getting started in The Promise: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais.

This latest in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series is a good one though Pike is regulated to a very small supporting role for most of the book and is not around that much. Told from the point of view of the bad guys, Elvis Cole, Scott James, Maggie, and many others, the read moves through character’s heads as they all pursue their various agendas. That results in some overlap of situations as action sequences and case details are depicted first one way than the other.

This is an action oriented book– almost thriller like in its lack of character depth– as the primary few  characters have been fleshed out long before. The only characters that go into any real depth at all are Maggie and her canine handler Scott James. Therefore, it will be helpful to read the preceding book, Suspect, which introduced these two characters as parts of that backstory are referenced here.

The Promise  is a read that powers steadily forward with a focus on action and little else. It is not a normal Elvis Cole/ Joe Pike book as one expects quite a bit more character depth, humor, and meat to the storylines without all the various cardboard cutout characters. Those issues have led some to question whether or not this book was written by the author. It seems clear that it was as it follows the same style and tone as Suspect did. While The Promise is not a book of any depth, it is entertaining and a very fast read.

The Promise: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel
Robert Crais
http://www.robertcrais.com
Wheeler Publishing (Gale, Cengage Learning)
http://www.gale.cengage.com/wheeler
November 2015
ISBN# 978-4104-6672-3
Large Print Hardback (standard hardback, audio, and e-book formats are available)
525 Pages
$37.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

Hughes Community College in Southeast Texas near Houston is a small college doing its best to survive. That means the school and its President Dr. Fieldstone can’t afford and don’t want any scandal. That includes possibly questionable artwork currently being exhibited on campus.

Dr. Sally Good has spent six years as head of the English and Fine Arts Division dealing with budget complaints, political bickering and gossip, and the other stuff that is the bane of academic heads everywhere. This is the first time she has been called in over artwork. Dr. Fieldstone has summoned her along with several other people to his office to deal with a complaint lodged by Roy Talon.

Talon is a local celebrity having made his considerable fortune as an automobile dealer. There is a painting of a goat being exhibited on campus as part of deal showcasing the work of students in the prison outreach program. Bad enough that the goat itself is a symbol of Satanism, according to Talon, but he believes that one can also see “666” painted on the goat head. Upon closer examination of the painting, not only do the staff members not see the sign of the beast, one goes so far to suggest if there is anything it might be “911” making it a sign to call the police.

As a taxpayer and very important person, Talon wants the painting gone. In any institution, bosses handle difficult issues by forming committees to study the problem and make recommendations. Doing so spreads the responsibility around and absolves the boss from having to upset any one group.  Before long, the idea is floated to have a newly created committee review entire exhibit to consider if any of the works are Satanic and thus should be removed.

One of those involved in this mess is the chair of the art department. The same department head who may have once again been stepping out on his wife. The same department head who is soon found very much dead in the art exhibit. When the local police seem to be ignoring key pieces of evidence it is left to Dr. Sally Good to solve the crime in Murder Is An Art: A Mystery by Bill Crider.

If you have read very many of author Bill Crider’s books, you will notice that he often starts with something relatively minor that either directly or indirectly leads to a murder. This is especially true in his mysteries based in academia whether it is the Carl Burns series or this one. He also blends in some misdirection with characters that are a bit out there. There is more than one such character at work here and Dr. Good’s observations about them are very funny.

My favorite in this one was Perry “A. B. D.” Johnson who goes ballistic over just about anything on a daily basis. The “A. B. D.”  nickname stands for “All But Dissertation” as he has done the entire graduate coursework and everything else required except for finishing the dissertation. Every campus has at least one. Back in my days at the University of Texas at Dallas there were at least two such people I knew of in the Literature and History Departments. Both were very strange guys. One in fact, who did lose his mind regarding a chair, so when reading the opening pages of Murder is an Art: A Mystery where A. B. D. Johnson becomes quite agitated over a chair it made this reader laugh out loud.

Laughing out loud is always a frequent danger with any work by Texas author Bill Crider. Published in 1999 the book may annoy some readers who expect the first body to fall by the third paragraph at the very latest. Instead, that will come later as the author introduces us to our fictional companions and sets the table for the mystery meal to come. First in the Dr. Sally Good series, the read is occasionally funny while taking numerous twists and turns to solve a murder or two and quite a lot more. Murder is an Art: A Mystery is a solidly good read and one very much worthy of your time.

Murder is an Art: A Mystery
Bill Crider
http://www.billcrider.com
Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin’s Press)
http://us.macmillan.com/thomasdunne
April 1999
ISBN# 0-312-19927-9
Hardback (e-book available)
256 Pages
$21.95

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016