April reading and research
Recently read Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. This book has received a lot of hype—and it does not disappoint. Ray Carney’s a Harlem furniture store owner just trying to navigate his way between the crooks and crooked cops in his neighborhood while he keeps his store afloat through legal and not-so-legal means. His cousin’s a hustler with a lot of bad ideas about how to get rich quick. And when his cousin ropes him in on a jewelry heist, he’s scrambling like mad to stay out of jail, out of the clutches of the mob, and to keep his part of their score, all while protecting his reputation as an upstanding businessman. Lots of fun!
You might recall that at the end of January I picked up a copy of The Gone Sister (Lee Callaway Book 2) by Thomas Fincham. Two plot threads here—the murder of a college basketball player and the disappearance of a young woman. While the cops are looking into the murder, Lee Callaway has been hired by the missing woman’s blind sister to find her.
This book starts out slow for me, but as it moves along, it picks up speed and the complications become a lot more interesting, particularly the way the two cases intertwine. Liked the blind sister character a lot.
And if you’re following my crime research, here’s a link to an article about how cybercriminals use checks stolen from mailboxes.
https://theconversation.com/how-cybercriminals-turn-paper-checks-stolen-from-mailboxes-into-bitcoin-%202165721446+Version+A+CID_cdcec7d6744fe4b86bfbc8d9e77a0d8e&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=How%20cybercriminals%20turn%20paper%20checks%20stolen%20from%20mailboxes%20into%20bitcoin
Finally, the Kirkus review of Murder at Mercy Creek is out. Kirkus calls it “… a ballet of tension and rough justice.” You can read the full review here:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-p-king2/murder-at-mercy-creek-kd-thorne/
Happy reading!