Go Ahead. You Need to Make Time for This.

Hiya,

What would be the perfect read for a summer’s day? Spellbounder Peter Bartram shares his take on that question, and Lynda offers two noteworthy mysteries that fill the bill. If you’re more in the mood for watching or listening to mystery stories, our August Almanac features TV shows and podcasts you may have missed. Let’s dive in …

When I planned to write my first crime mystery, I had to decide what hat to wear. Or, as most crime mysteries feature the police, perhaps that should be helmet.

Confused already? Let me explain.

In the crime mystery world, I found, there were many genres. There were police procedurals, courtroom cases, psychological thrillers, historical mysteries, locked room puzzles, and dark noir tales. There were even “howcatchems” – where you know who did it at the start, and the tension comes from the battle to catch and convict the bad guy in the final chapter.

I thought about each of them. But none of them hit the button for me. In my own reading of crime mysteries, I veered between cozy mysteries and hard-boiled tales. Typically, the cozy mystery featured an amateur sleuth. Take a bow, Miss Marple, Father Brown, Agatha Raisin. They live in a seemingly pleasant and quiet community – but with a murderer never far away!

The cozy sleuths weren’t constrained by police procedures. Between tea parties they could solve the case using their own sometimes unconventional methods. The idea of having the freedom to solve a murder in a novel and unexpected way appealed to me. It opened up a cornucopia of new plot opportunities. And my protagonist Colin Crampton hasn’t been shy about using his freedom in beating the cops to the killer.

As I studied the hard-boiled genre more closely, it revealed more opportunities. These included having a sharp talking protagonist with a strong moral code and his own way of working. Take a bow Philip Marlowe, Mike Hammer and Sam Spade. The hardboiled was bornin America in the 1920s – the Roaring Twenties - and 1930s, the depression world of “Brother, can you spare a dime”. Its defining features were found in books like Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, and Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.

I’d read some of them and I loved the pace and wit with which the stories were told. They were written in clipped direct sentences with not a word wasted. As a journalist who’d begun his career on a tabloid newspaper that appealed to me.

Book 2 in the series: A Scott Morgan Mystery

You know that frisson you get when you first realize you’ve found an exciting mystery? I mean a really good one? Especially when that happens on page one? Well, that’s how I felt as I started reading Neal Lipschutz’s Long Arm of the Past (which just launched on August 4). The characters grabbed me with a hug, both those I’m meant to like and the other kind. They all contribute to the feeling that you want to read every word, not rush to the end to find out whodunit.

But don’t worry. Just because you don’t skip a word doesn’t mean Long Arm of the Past is a slow read. The story moves along swiftly, with all the twists and turns you hope for. I was sure I knew who one of the bad guy was – and I was wrong. Delicious! The only one you can be sure of is the protagonist, Scott Morgan, and that’s only because the series is named after him. Even he raises a few eyebrows from time to time.

And Lipschutz added a bit of modern romance that is not only a nice break from the mystery, but contributes to character development.

The novel starts with Scott Morgan growing suspicious when the long-standing chairman of the global consulting firm where he built his career abruptly retires and dies a short time later. Scott launches a quiet investigation into these matters and hires, of all people, Delmore Kerbich, now a P.I. but formerly the detective with the NYPD who turned Morgan’s life upside down in the first book of the series, No Write Way to Die. But Scott knows Delmore possesses the skills necessary for this latest mission.

Problems arise in large part due to the firm’s past use of a nefarious investigatory group. Scott has his own history with that crew, and suddenly, the past – plus suspicions and coverups – are everywhere.

As I was reading, I kept trying to place what Long Arm of the Past reminded me of. I asked myself: If stories had buddies, what would be Long Arm’s buddy? About halfway though I knew – the movie “Michael Clayton” about the corporate fixer who gets a conscience. I like that film so much, I’ve watched it three times. I could see Long Arm of the Past turned into a riveting screenplay, if they still make movies like that. I hope someone with screenwriting chops takes that idea and runs with it.

I tend to enjoy books by journalists. We not only know how to write but are well-practiced in the craft of grammar/punctuation. Seems today many writers are skipping that last step, and I think it shows. Lipschutz was formerly a deputy editor-in-chief at The Wall Street Journal. He also previously served as WSJ’s ethics and standards editor and at one time served as top editor at Dow Jones Newswires.

I highly recommend this sophisticated mystery crafted by a pro. ~Lynda McDaniel (https://lyndamcdaniel.substack.com)

“A tidy whodunit with a New York state of mind.”
~Kirkus Reviews for “No Write Way to Die”

What do you call a cop mystery?
(Answer below)

Book 1 of 4: JP Warner Series

I love snarky lead characters. Not mean snarky, just witty and a bit edgy. JP Warner is that kind of protagonist. His self-deprecating humor is a lot of fun, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a journalist.

Author Derek Ciccone does an interesting job of storytelling, setting up the main plot of the book through two different channels: One, we get to know the bad guy, Officer Jones, and his perverted way of viewing the world. I usually don’t enjoy spending much time with the bad guy (and I’m not giving away anything … we meet him in Chapter 1), but in this case, the author manages to use this knowledge to jack up the tension in this righteous quest for justice. The drama becomes heart-pounding because we do know him.

Two, we’re introduced to our protagonist, hot-shot journo JP Warner. Think war correspondents Edward R. Morrow or more recently, Richard Engel, tackling the tough stories in war-torn countries. When Warner and his crew are kidnapped by terrorists, I thought that would be the main story.

But not so fast. This was the author’s way of showing what a risk-taker Warner is. The life-changing terrorist event causes Warner to leave journalism and his globetrotting lifestyle to settle down in his small Connecticut hometown, where Officer Jones serves on the police force.

Let the hunt for justice begin.

“This book isn’t a page turner, it’s a page burner!”

Warner’s sidekick, former pro-wrestler Coldblooded Carter, is reminiscent of Spenser’s Hawk and Elvis Cole’s Joe Pike, the kind of muscle any risk-taker needs. (Oh, yeah. Warner may have given up journalism, but not danger!) I enjoyed how Warner and other key characters get right to the heart of the matter. They speak the way you wish politicians and business leaders talked. Their dialogue is so satisfying that rooting interest quickly reaches 11.

And there’s more than a little romance. Warner had parted ways years ago with his high-school sweetheart, Gwen Delaney, but the flame still flickers. She’s a journalist too, and they share more than ink in their veins. Lots of fun banter and back-and-forth.

Ciccone pulls off a well-earned twist about two-thirds of the way through the book that I didn’t see coming. That ratchets up the suspense all the way through to the end. I personally thought the denouement was a bit protracted, but then again, I have a reputation for thinking all books go on a bit too long. It’s probably me. And it’s nothing that a little skimming doesn’t remedy. ~Lynda (https://lyndamcdaniel.substack.com)

“This book was amazing! … so many twists and turns.”

Why were you sent to prison?
Bribery.
How did you get out after just a month?
What do you think?

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Take just one minute (or so) to watch the trailer of Lynda’s latest mystery — well, actually 16 mysteries in Blizzard of Stories. It launches August 16 — 10 years to the day after she published the first book in her Appalachian Mountain Mysteries, A Life for a Life. She’s planning a celebration right here on August 20 with a special price just for you! In the meantime, you can watch the trailer here. Or if you prefer a URL: https://canva.link/b6qkageqfvgvyfu

“… a delightful smorgasbord of country tales to choose from.
All the stories are fast reads … in a wonderful collection.”
~Thriller & Mystery Author Directory

1. Get published

2. Cash prizes

3. No entry fee

4. No prompts – just your creativity

Thanks to a sponsor, we now offer cash prizes along with a lifetime premier subscription to Spellbound Mystery Magazine. Send us a short mystery or suspense story – any length up to 1,000 words (less is sometimes more, you know) – fiction or non fiction. No prompts, no entry fee, no other requirements – just your best work.

Deadline: October 15

Check WBY! rules and entry requirements here.

Guest author Janet Roberts shares her cybersecurity know-how adeptly mixed with magical realism. The results are electrifying! Lynda’s launch of Blizzard of Stories weighs in with an almost-half-price offer, plus she reviews a prolific author readers can’t get enough of. And of course there’s plenty of mystery trivia and jokes. Always room for jokes.

The Spellbounders,

Lynda McDaniel
Peter Bartram

P.S. Know someone who’s been bit by the mystery bug? Help them scratch that itch and take life a little easier — refer them and win prizes! (And many thanks to all of you who have recommended Spellbound to your friends and colleagues. We really appreciate it!)

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What do you call a cop mystery?
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