Cops & Robbers

Parker City Mystery, #5

by

Justin M. Kiska

Another intriguing mystery with its roots in the past.

Cops & Robbers is the fifth outing for Parker City’s crack detective team, Sgt. Ben Winters and Tommy Mason, in Justin M. Kiska’s outstanding Parker City Mystery series. With its absorbing and puzzling dual timeline plot and engaging recurring main characters, as with the previous books, I couldn’t put this one down either. 

The setting is 1985, Maryland, when Parker City’s two-person Detective Bureau confronts two burglaries that occur on the same day in the wealthier section of the city. Already aware of a burglary ring operating unhindered in the neighboring community of Wakeville, Detective Sergeant Ben Winters and Detective Tommy had been on the alert that their town may eventually be targeted for its juicier pickings. However, from the start, the two Parker City break-ins don’t match the established MO of the Wakeville crimes. At the first home, the thieves pass up all the usual valuables to grab a heavy floor safe, and in the second, the homeowner, a beloved society woman, is murdered. With few clues to work on and a lot of scrutiny from higher-ups, Ben and Tommy are under pressure to solve the cases and stop what looks like a deadly crime spree. 

As is the case in the previous novels in this series, the plot also includes a storyline from the city’s past with implications for the present. In this instance, the story moves to 1927 and features a series of home invasion burglaries in another wealthy residential area in nearby Baltimore. As the number of burglaries mounts and a death occurs, Baltimore’s top detective, Lt. Cranshaw, is assigned to get to the bottom of things quickly. In a unique twist, the local crime boss is also invested in finding and stopping the unknown perpetrators from poaching on his territory without permission, and it becomes a race between the two to get to the burglars first. 

This unusual double police procedural moves quickly with Ben and Tommy in their timeline and Cranshaw in his methodically working their leads and following their gut instincts. The historical details of both eras were fascinating and fun, with at least one Easter Egg from past stories casually inserted into the narrative, and there was an excellent suspect in the more modern timeline who I really had trouble trusting. The two stories eventually converge as Ben and Tommy investigate, and the final resolution is plausible and satisfying. Even though this book is the fifth in the series, it can easily be read and enjoyed on its own. However, each book in the series keeps getting better and better, and none should be missed. 

I recommend COPS & ROBBERS to readers of historical mysteries and historical police procedurals, especially those who would enjoy a Maryland setting. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

Beyond the Cemetery Gate: The Secret Keeper’s Daughter

Chloe and Maggie Mystery, #1

by

Valerie Biel

Fantastic dual-timeline murder mystery with hints of the paranormal.

Beyond the Cemetery Gate: The Secret Keeper’s Daughter is the first book in author Valerie Biel’s fantastic new young adult/adult cross-over Chloe and Maggie Mystery series and features a clever dual timeline with just a hint of paranormal elements. Chloe Cowyn, who lives with her father in a house nestled with the city cemetery where he works as the caretaker, is awakened one night to screams, shouting, and flickering lights among the headstones. Thinking it is kids who have snuck in for a scary prank, she goes to wake her father so he can shoo the trespassers away. Finding his bed empty and assuming he’s already up and outside doing just that, she heads out as well in case he needs any help, only to find him dead, propped up against a monument with a needle in his arm. When the police declare his death an accidental overdose, Chloe urges them to look closer as she’s certain her father was and never had been an addict and that she had heard multiple voices in the cemetery at the time of his death. The police appear to close the case without further investigation, so Chloe decides to pursue the truth on her own. 

The story cleverly unfolds through the viewpoints of father and daughter, with his narrative providing the backdrop for her account of the events of the present. Unbeknownst to Chloe, Dean Cowyn had been keeping a lot of secrets from her regarding their past, and those secrets were just about to come out into the open in a very dangerous way. 

Chloe is a strong and determined 16-year-old, and she never wavers in her belief that her father’s death was caused by someone else in the cemetery that night. During times of stress, which is practically the entire book, Chloe figuratively turns to her guardian angel, Leb, for comfort, which is promptly given. Described as a loving presence and a warm, comforting hug, the invisible Leb has been a part of Chloe’s life for as long as she can remember. While they do not communicate per se, he is always there when she needs him and ready to provide mental and emotional support. As for Dean, he’s a dedicated father, trying to keep his daughter safe, which also means oblivious to what really happened the night of the house fire that took a life and caused the terrible scars on the lower half of her body. But while Dean kept those secrets from his daughter out of love, her ignorance of the truth puts her at a terrible disadvantage and her life in jeopardy. 

A third narrator, The Watcher, provides stalkerish commentary about Chloe’s movements, and this adds to the tense and creepy atmosphere of the entire story. The Watcher’s identity is kept hidden, and I speculated throughout the book about who it was, thinking it was first one person and then another until, in one of many surprising plot twists, they and their motives are finally revealed. 

The plot is fast-paced and compelling, and I was completely consumed by the story from the moment I began reading it. I could feel Chloe’s frustration with the lack of police action and her rising panic when she was unable to contact Maggie, her only other relative, forcing her to lie to and dodge the county’s social worker. The pressure increases when she realizes her sources of ready cash are gone and the city has given her a quickly approaching deadline to pack and vacate the cemetery house to accommodate the newly hired caretaker. While readers will be fairly certain they know who the killer is, it is the reason why and what comes next that drives the story. 

I recommend BEYOND THE CEMETERY GATE: THE SECRET KEEPER’S DAUGHTER to readers of young adult/adult mysteries and thrillers, especially those who enjoy a little paranormal element in their stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

Murder Movie Club: Murder On a Monday

Monthly Murder Movie Club, #1

by

Marcy Blesy

Fun new murder movie club cozy mystery series where the members try their hand at solving a real murder!

Murder Movie Club: Murder On a Monday is the debut novel in veteran author Marcy Blesy’s fun new cozy mystery series, Monthly Murder Movie Club, featuring movie club members who try to solve a murder in real life. Fun, diverse characters, spirited dialogue, and an intriguing murder all combine for an entertaining story. 

The characters are engaging and comprise quite a diverse group of individuals. The story unfolds from multiple perspectives and is really an ensemble effort to solve the case. While I had a favorite character, that changed as the story progressed, and each one got their turn to present their point of view. I enjoyed the participants bickering and their banter. 

The victim is discovered early on, and a major piece of evidence goes missing soon after, so the story is off and running almost from the beginning. Plot twists kept things interesting and me guessing! 

I recommend MURDER MOVIE CLUB: MURDER ON A MONDAY to cozy mystery fans.

See this and other book reviews at Boys' Mom Reads!

Basilisk

A Starship vs Alien Creature War Novel, Book One

by

Scott Bradley

Exciting military science fiction tale of a brutal conflict between two warring planets that escalates when the mythical aliens known as the basilisks get involved.

Basilisk by Scott Bradley is a riveting military science fiction story about a brutal conflict between two warring planets, Kari and Rhea, that suddenly threatens to annihilate both when one side decides to introduce a mythical alien creature known as basilisks into the battle. Skylar Solace, the daughter of the renowned captain of the Kari starship Dragon, is foundering in her studies to become a starship officer. So, when the planet Rhea attacks and decimates one of Kari’s space stations and its more than 2,000 souls aboard, she and her best friend, Trudi, with passions high (A LA STARSHIP TROOPERS), enlist in the Marines. But all the training in the world can’t prepare Skylar for the terror she feels going into battle. Not only must she fight the enemy, but her own paralyzing fear as well. Adding to her emotional struggles are the rampant rumors that Kari’s leader, President Alder, may be responsible for starting the war for personal gain. 

While initially appearing to be a passionate and gung-ho recruit wanting to prove herself to a cruel, unfeeling father, Skylar Solace turns out to be a remarkably complex character struggling with a lot of baggage. I had some difficulty connecting with her, especially when she froze during her squad’s first engagement with the enemy, possibly contributing to the death of a marine under her command. However, as the story unfolded, she grew on me as she matured and grew into the kind of protagonist that her command saw as a competent and canny leader, able to cut through the smokescreen of subterfuge of Kari’s power-hungry and corrupt politicians. She goes from acting like a schoolgirl when confronted with her current crush to fighting through excruciating pain and the mind control caused by the bite of the all-too-real alien Basilisk. 

Corporal Solace is supported by a plethora of teammates besides Trudi, such as the mercenary Levi and the ever-contentious Coma. Many characters come and go as they fall in the many shipboard skirmishes, and the squad is re-formed over and over. Skylar slowly comes to trust herself, learning a hard lesson when she relinquishes command to a less talented squad member in a moment of weakness. 

The story starts in high gear as Skylar’s squad boards a Rhea Corvette, and the author does a bang-up job describing and choreographing the ensuing chaos they experience as they breach the hull under fire and meet the enemy head-on. Capturing an enemy combatant, a Kari insurgent, readers get their first hint that the virtually unstoppable Basilisk of lore might not just be a myth, and their involvement in the Rhea-Kari war is a much larger threat to everyone, giving off fresh ALIEN vibes for the rest of the book. I found the story exciting and entertaining, but there were a few places where the action lagged with unnecessary repetitions of explanations or character introspection, typos, and incorrect word usage. 

I recommend BASILISK to readers of military science fiction, especially those who enjoy strong female protagonists. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

Vanishing Into the 100% Dark

Bean to Bar Mystery, #8

by

Amber Royer

Murder and chocolate once again go hand-in-hand in this latest Bean to Bar Mystery!

Vanishing Into the 100% Dark is the eighth novel in author Amber Royer’s delightful Bean to Bar Mystery series, which is normally set in Galveston, Texas. This time, Felicity, her new fiancé, and several friends travel to Tokyo for a chocolate festival and trade show, where, unfortunately, murder and chocolate go hand-in-hand. Felicity finds herself investigating the death of a stuntman whose body she discovers sprawled on the floor of the set where he had been working on a modern-day monster movie. With her teenage charge Chloe’s fingerprints on the murder weapon, Felicity and her friends must pull out all the stops to clear her name. 

Felicity is honored to have been invited to participate in the Tokyo chocolate festival and to present a class on how she creates her own products, but she feels a little intimidated by the other renowned guests. Still, she looks forward to sharing her experiences and learning from others, as well as visiting the exotic cosmopolitan city of Tokyo. Thankfully, several of her friends decided to tag along on the trip to help staff the booth during the trade show because Felicity and Logan are both pulled in different directions, her looking into the murder and him helping out a former client who is in trouble. 

Felicity is dedicated in her pursuit of the truth and conducts a careful, step-by-step investigation, starting with interviewing those involved in the film with a possible reason to want Noel Bell dead, including the film’s director, who has an obvious but unrequited crush on the victim’s wife, a stuntwoman also working on the film. She is hampered in her investigation by the language barrier and a lack of access to the official police investigators and their information; however, both Logan and Arlo have local contacts they call on for some assistance. Additional storylines complicate the case but seem to tie in early on, multiplying the motives and suspects. The foreign setting is fun, and the author includes a lot of details about daily life there from an expat point of view rather than from a touristy perception, adding to the authentic feel of the novel. 

With its puzzling murder mystery, unexpected intrigue at the chocolate festival, and the delight and comfort of so many familiar, recurring characters on hand in Tokyo, I recommend VANISHING INTO THE 100% DARK to cozy mystery readers, especially fans of the previous books in the series.   

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Book Blog Tours.