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The Big Kahuna and Truth Kills

The Big Kahuna and Truth Kills

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Howdy, Michael here,

Getting ready to send my new Travelers crime thriller, Grifters’ Hopscotch, to the editor.

In the meantime, two crime books I read last month.

Recently I read Hot Six, one of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, which made me curious about her other series, so I downloaded The Big Kahuna (Fox and O’Hare book 6, 2019). As I was reading it, I kept thinking that the characters seemed somehow familiar. Turns out I read The Job (Fox and O’Hare book 3) back in 2021.

Anyway, Kate O’Hare is an FBI agent. Nicholas Fox is a con artist. In typical Evanovich screwball comedy fashion, they partner to solve difficult crimes. On this outing, they’re searching for a missing tech billionaire whose spouse and business partner want him declared dead so they can get control of his company, each for their own purposes. Murder and mayhem quickly ensue as Fox and O’Hare go to Hawaii to find the billionaire and discover the reason he’s in hiding. A fast-paced read full of twists and turns.

I also read Truth Kills (Angelina Bonaparte Mysteries book 1, 2017) by Nanci Rathbun. I was cleaning up my Kindle when I found it. Don’t know when I downloaded it. Decided to give it a try.

Angelina Bonaparte is a middle-aged, divorced PI who can be prickly and judgmental at times, but she has a big heart to go with her big Italian Milwaukee, Wisconsin, family. And she’s very carefully looking for a relationship with a man who can pass muster with her dad and her grown-up children. (But this is not a romance book; romance is a sub-plot.)

She usually doesn’t involve herself in murder investigations, but when her client on a cheating husband investigation asks her to prove her husband didn’t murder her mistress, she decides to go all in.

Well-written, effective who-done-it where the relationships between the characters generate a lot of energy. A fun read.

It’s $0.99 (US) right now. https://www.amazon.com/Truth-Kills-Angelina-Bonaparte-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0721R2KNF

Happy reading!

Prizzi’s Honor and Hot Six

Prizzi’s Honor and Hot Six

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Still making progress on my new Travelers crime thriller, Grifters’ Hopscotch, where the Travelers bounce through a series of misadventures until they finally turn the tables on their enemies.

Over the last month, I read two comedy crime books.

First off, Prizzi’s Honor (1982) by Richard Condon. I’d seen the movie starring Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner when it came out in 1985, and I always wondered how the book stacked up. Both the movie and book are satires of an Italian-American crime family with broadly sketched characters. The plot is essentially the same in the book and the movie.

Charley Partanna, hitman for the Prizzi’s, falls in love with Irene Walker, who turns out to be a contract hit woman. She has done something to upset the Prizzis, and they want her killed. At the same time, Charley has upset one of his bosses, and he wants him killed and hires Irene, not knowing Irene and Charley’s relationship.

Lots of plot twists and comedic action here as our heroes have to decide whether love or money is more important, though the opening is a little slow by today’s standards. This was a New York Times Notable Book back in the day.

Second, Hot Six (2000) by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum book 6). Every type of fiction requires its own kind of suspension of disbelief. The issue is can you, as a reader, accept the suspension of disbelief that’s required by a particular fiction. For example, I can’t watch romcoms, because beautiful, young people who can’t get a date is just too unbelievable for me to accept.

Here, Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter. She seems to somehow be good at her job even though she makes absurd, comedic choices. The first couple of pages I thought I don’t know if this is for me, but soon I found myself accepting the world Evanovich creates in these books, and I had a fun, fun time following Stephanie as she deals with her quirky family, friends, and colleagues while she tries to figure out who killed the arms dealer’s son.

Happy reading,

Death at La Fenice and The Thursday Murder Club

Death at La Fenice and The Thursday Murder Club

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Still busy writing a new Travelers crime thriller, Grifters’ Hopscotch, where a blackmail leads to a safecracking which leads to an ambush, and on and on. You get the idea. Hope to finish it this spring.

Over the last month, I read two books you may be interested in.

First off, I read the first Donna Leon Commissario Burnetti mystery, Death at La Fenice (1992), which concerns the murder of a German opera conductor at an opera house in Venice.  (I left a link to it last month.) I reviewed the fourth book in the series last month, and I’ve just got to say that this series is gold from the very first book. A solid police procedural with wonderful local color and complex detail. I was 85% through it before I figured out who did it, and even then I couldn’t put it down until the end. Always a pleasure to read a book that is truly diverting.

Not only that, but recently several eBooks from this series have been discounted, so if you check out Donna Leon’s books on your favorite book buying site, you’ll be able to download some of the series on the cheap. Here’s the Amazon link to the series as an example: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NN6WYDC

Second, I read The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. This is a sort of cozy (all violence off screen), which is usually not my thing, but this was a fun, fun read. It concerns four British seniors who live in a very fancy retirement community and have a club where they solve crimes. And what do you get when you set four retirees—a government agent, a nurse, a psychiatrist, and a union leader—hunting a murderer?  A first-rate who-done-it. And before you reach the last page, you’ll be hoping to know a crew like this if you someday find yourself living in a retirement community.

Happy reading!

Death and Judgment and Wax Apple

Death and Judgment and Wax Apple

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Happy New Year! Just a recap about this newsletter. I try to write two books a year, Travelers crime thrillers or KD Thorne thrillers, which I’ll keep you up to date on. As I mentioned last month, I’m currently working on a new Travelers book. I also recommend thrillers I’m reading, most of which have been discounted in my favorite book purchase newsletters, currently BookBub, Early Bird Books, and Murder & Mayhem. If I find a discounted eBook that I think is worth reading, I’ll include the Amazon link. (It’s just a default. The book should be discounted at the same time at other eBook sellers.) 

Over the holidays, I read two books you may be interested in.

First off, Donna Leon’s Death and Judgment (Commissario Brunetti Book 4, 1995). This series is set in Venice, Italy, and features police detective Guido Brunetti. This is a serious police procedural, which involves the reader in the work politics and usual crime detection problems of a police detective.

Brunetti is a compassionate, shrewd, and dogged detective. In this case, he has to connect the dots between the murder of an important lawyer and the deaths of several sex workers in a truck accident. Lots of local color, intricate detail, and complex plotting make this a treat. I’ll be reading more of this series.

The first book in this series, Death at La Fenice, is discounted today: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SIV41G

Second, I read another of Donald Westlake’s Mitchell Tobin books, Wax Apple (1970). This is a classic locked box story. Tobin is working undercover at a halfway house for mental patients to find the resident who is injuring the other residents by leaving dangerous boobytraps in the building. 

This is another clean, straightforward Westlake tale, tightly plotted and brought to a satisfying conclusion. I don’t might admitting that I didn’t figure out who did it until the very end.

Wax Apple is also discounted today: https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Mitchell-Tobin-Mysteries-Book-ebook/dp/B00D668I04

Happy reading!

New Travelers book, A Jade in Aries, and Black Diamond

New Travelers book, A Jade in Aries, and Black Diamond

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I’ve received some emails over the last year or so asking me if there were going to be any more Travelers books, since I’d switched focus to the KD Thorne thrillers. Well, last fall, while I was recuperating from my knee replacement and finishing up The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers, I wrote up a few pages of what is going to be a new Travelers book, tentatively titled The Grifters’ Hopscotch. That’s the book I’m working on now, and I hope to finish it this spring. So if you’ve been waiting for a new Travelers caper, there’s one on the way.

In the meantime, two books you might be interested in.

You all know I’m a big fan of Donald Westlake’s Parker books (written as Richard Stark). I’ve also read and commented upon a few of his Mitchell Tobin books. These books are much more centered in the time period when they were written. I recently read A Jade in Aries (1970). This outing concerns the murder of a gay man whose partner is using astrology to find the killer, who he thinks must be one of their six gay friends. (Not kidding.) The premise might seem a little off beat, but Westlake avoids the usual stereotypes to make the characters individual and compelling. And the murder mystery itself is a first-rate closed box puzzle with a surprising twist about two-thirds the way in. Couldn’t put it down once I was halfway through.

A Jade in Aries is $1.99 (US) today. Here’s the link if you want to check it out:

Also, I recently wrote about Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker, which is the first of a series of mystery novels that take place in a small town in southern France. I’ve just finished the third book in this series, Black Diamond (2010), which involves counterfeit truffles (the kind you find in the forest), illegal immigration, and the murder of a local hunter and truffle expert. These books are not hard boiled, but the characters are beautifully drawn, and the mysteries are complex and exciting. Fun, fun, fun reading!

Hope you have a great holiday season!

As promised, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

As promised, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

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The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers, the third KD Thorne thriller, is out now. Whoo-hoo!

To celebrate the release, all three KD Thorne eBooks are discounted until December 3, so if you need to catch up, now’s your chance.

Click the universal link to choose your favorite store.

 KD Thorne 1: The Hunt for the Hijacked Nerve Agent $0.99

https://books2read.com/u/bMwaXv

KD Thorne 2: Murder at Mercy Creek $2.99

https://books2read.com/u/mYyn6V

KD Thorne 3: The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers $2.99

https://books2read.com/u/3GWLDO

And here’s The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers blurb:

Ransomware attacks on hydroelectric dams in the US. The power grid disrupted. Downstream communities flooded. Who are these mystery hackers?

The hackers operate in cyberspace, their messages and the ransom money bouncing between countries until their trail disappears off the grid in Eastern Europe.

As National Defense Agency operative KD Thorne and her partner Jeffery Blunt track the hackers from dam to dam across the US, the hackers create a web of misinformation to conceal their identities and hide their stolen money.

Can KD and Blunt cut through the subterfuge and lay a trap to catch the hackers before they rob their last target and disappear with the ransom cash?

The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers is a fast-paced thriller you won’t be able to put down. If you like surprising plot twists and no-holds-barred action, you’ll love the third novel in the KD Thorne series.

…

I hope you enjoy the new book. And I’d love to hear what you think.

Prague Fatale, Raylan, and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

Prague Fatale, Raylan, and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

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The new KD Thorne thriller, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers, should come out in the next few weeks. When it officially launches, there will be discount pricing on the series. I’ll have more on that as the release approaches. 

In the meantime, two books you might be interested in–

Recently read Prague Fatale: A Bernie Gunther Novel #8 (2012) by Philip Kerr. Takes place during WWII. Bernie Gunther is a Berlin police detective. The police are also part of the German army SS, so Gunther gets roped into investigating a murder in Prague, Czechoslovakia, for a high-ranking SS officer. This is an excellent, gritty WWII crime thriller. Gunther hates Nazis, hates authority figures in general, and has the mother of all bad attitudes. Plus he’s an excellent detective. But even he doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into by the time he finds out who committed the murder and why. Lots of fun!

Also read Raylan, Raylan Givens Book 3, (2012) by Elmore Leonard. (I included a link at the beginning of the month when it was discounted.) This was, I think, the last novel he wrote. It’s more episodic than a typical Leonard book, concerning four cases that US Marshal Raylan Givens is tasked with: a body parts theft case, a coal country murder, a bank robbery, and a fugitive hunt, all of which take place in eastern Kentucky. Though the novel covers four cases, it’s the usual action-packed, suspense-filled romp filled with the local color and regional dialogue that you expect from Leonard. It’s a shame there won’t be more of these. 

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

The Comedians; Bruno, Chief of Police; and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

The Comedians; Bruno, Chief of Police; and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

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Still finishing up the new KD Thorne thriller, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers. Here’s how the description is shaping up:

Ransomware attacks on hydroelectric dams in the US. The power grid disrupted. Downstream communities flooded. Who are these mystery hackers?

The hackers operate in cyberspace, their messages and the ransom money bouncing between countries until their trail disappears off the grid in Eastern Europe.

As National Defense Agency operative KD Thorne and her partner Jeffery Blunt track the hackers from dam to dam, the hackers create a web of misinformation to conceal their identities and hide their stolen money.

Can KD and Blunt cut through the subterfuge and lay a trap to catch the hackers before they rob their last target and disappear with the ransom cash?

Two books you might be interested in–

Recently read The Comedians by Graham Greene (1966). Haiti in the 1960s— the regime of Papa Doc Duvalier and his secret police, the Tontons Macoute. Picture Syria or North Korea today. Citizens being disappeared, government scams, grifters hoping to make their fortune–this novel reads like a thriller, as we follow a British hotelier through his involvement with con artists, patriots, and innocents. He hopes to make a living at his hotel and stay out of prison, but he just can’t seem to mind his own business as everyone around him has their own agenda—some for good and some for pure selfishness. And is he one of the good guys, more or less, or just another selfish grifter taking advantage of those around him? A serious read and well worth the effort.

Graham Greene’s Collected Novels Volume 5, which includes The Comedians, is $2.99 (US) on Amazon today.

Also read Bruno, Chief of Police, by Martin Walker (2008). This is the first of a series of mystery novels that take place in the (fictional, I think?) town of St. Denis in southern France. Bruno is a decorated military veteran who’s taken on the easy job of a small-town cop, only to have the murder of a local WW II war hero fall into his lap. The local color and the scene setting here are excellent, as well as Walker’s ability to capture modern issues such as conflict around immigration and tourism. And I bet you won’t be able to figure out who the murderer is until the very end. I’ll definitely be reading more of these.

Finally, if you’re an Elmore Leonard fan (which I am), his novel Raylan, featuring US Marshal Raylan Givens, is $1.99 (US) on Amazon today.

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

The Mugger, The Truth Lies and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

The Mugger, The Truth Lies and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

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Still working through the edits on the new KD Thorne thriller, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers. Hydroelectric dams are being targeted by ransomware attacks, and KD and Blunt are on the trail of the hackers.

My right knee replacement (August 2) turned out well, though I’m still hard at the physical therapy to regain full range of motion of the knee. It’s slowing me down on getting this book done, but so it goes.

Recently read The Mugger (87th Precinct book 2, 1956) by Ed McBain. I commented on book 5 in this series last October. These are first-rate police procedurals that delve into the personal lives of the cops who work out of the 87th precinct in a fictional city somewhat modeled on New York City. This series was released from 1957 to 1984.

On this outing, a mugger who preys on women late at night is terrorizing the city. When one of his victims is murdered, the detectives of the 87th go into overdrive to catch him. Meanwhile, a street cop who’s asked for a favor by an old acquaintance finds himself shoved into the middle of the case.

No superheroes in these books, just straight-up, by-the-book police work, following leads, questioning suspects, and catching the occasional lucky break. Fast-paced, hard-to-put-down reads. It that’s your cup of joe, the kindle version is $1.99 today.

Also read The Truth Lies (Grifter’s Daughter book 4) by Duane Lindsay. I commented on the first book in this series back in May. These books are in the same vein as the Ocean’s 11, 12, 13, and 8 movies, where a group of specialist grifters set up an elaborate con to fleece a bad guy.

This time out, Dani Silver’s straight arrow brother has been set up by crooked cops and imprisoned, so she assembles a crew to break him out, clear his name, and rob the crooks.

Lots of twist and turns, plans going awry, and bickering among the grifters as Dani and her crew work the con. A fun read.That’s all for now. Happy reading!

Murder Among Children, Bats Fly at Dusk and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

Murder Among Children, Bats Fly at Dusk and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

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The new KD Thorne thriller, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers, is off at the editor. Hydroelectric dams are being targeted by ransomware attacks, and KD and Blunt are on the trail of the hackers.

I got my right knee replaced last week, so I’m going to be out of commission for a little while. In the meantime, here are a couple of August reading suggestions.

Just read Murder Among Children (1967) by Donald E Westlake. You may recall that I am a big fan of Westlake’s Parker books (written as Richard Stark). I wrote about the first book in the Mitchell Toben series, Kinds of Love, Kinds of Death, earlier this year. 

Tobin, a disgraced former police detective, is contacted by a young woman, his second cousin, who needs help dealing with a crooked cop who’s demanding a bribe from the coffee shop she’s set up with friends. As Tobin starts looking into the situation, her boyfriend and a prostitute are murdered, and she’s charged with the crime. Tobin is tasked with finding the real killer. Colorful characters, fast-paced action, and a hard-to-figure-out plot make the pages fly.

Murder Among Children is discounted to $2.99 (US) on Amazon today. Here’s the link if you’re interested.https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Among-Children-Mitchell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00D668GSS

Also read Bats Fly at Dusk (1942) by Earle Stanley Gardner (of Perry Mason fame) writing as A.A. Fair. This is the seventh of the Bertha Lam/Donald Cool private detective series, which are slightly comic old school who-done-its. This is the first of this series I’ve read. Just curious as to how different this would be from a Perry Mason book.

On this outing, Lam is hired by a blind man to find a woman who was in a car accident, while Cool is doing his WWII military service and can only be consulted via telegram or letter. In short order, the case turns into a murder investigation of the missing woman’s employer. It’s the usual tightly plotted, red-herring-filled story you’d expect from Gardner, even if some of the clues are a little far fetched. A quick, fun read.

If you’ve read a crime thriller you particularly liked, please let me know about it so I can put it on my list.

Happy reading!