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Duane Swierczynski Talks Moving Backstory of New Novel in Return to Houston’s Murder by the Book
It’s been nine years since Philadelphia native Duane Swierczynski had a book signing at Houston’s Murder by the Book. In fact, as he told the folks who turned out last Friday night, this store was the site of his first book signing. What he appreciated, he told us, was how much the store had not changed. He, on the other hand, has. Swierczynski is the author of over a dozen novels, numerous short stories, and quite a few comics. He is married and is the father of two children. One, however, his daughter, Evelyn, was diagnosed with leukemia back in 2018. Swierczynski and his wife took turns spending the night…
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Favorite Music of 2023
One might think that a new year calls for looking forward and not backwards…but I didn’t get a chance to report my favorite albums of 2023. It was a good year for new music, but the year 2023 was dominated by an album from 2021 that I only discovered in December 2022. But I’ll hold off on that reveal until the end. New Discoveries of Old Music My twenty-two year old son is interested in legacy artists, that is older artists who continued to make music in the 2000s. When he makes a new discovery, he’ll pass it on to me. As a result, 2023 was the first time I…
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Can Anyone Get Away With Murder? Here Are Eight Answers
The last book I read in 2023 was the Christmas novella, The Christmas Guest, by a new-to-me writer, Peter Swanson. I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday-themed story—and the twist—that I wanted to read another novel by the author. So the first book of 2024 I read was another Swanson book. But where to start? How about a novel featuring famous literary murders? Eight Perfect Murders is Swanson’s sixth novel. It stars Malcolm Kershaw, the owner of a mystery bookstore in Boston. In first-person POV, Malcolm tells us the story of how an FBI agent, Gwen Mulvey, comes to ask Malcolm for his insight into a few murders that may or may…
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Blackstar: The Brilliant Last Gift from David Bowie
(It’s been eight years since David Bowie passed away. Here’s my take on his final album.) Much has been made of the overt jazz vibe on David Bowie’s final album, BLACKSTAR. Some have all but called it a jazz record. It is, but, as with all of Bowie’s records, it’s not that simple. Nothing with Bowie ever was. True, the jazz influences are much more overt than on other albums, but this is David Bowie. If he’s a chameleon of fashion and style, then he’s always been an amalgamation of musical styles. BLACKSTAR is merely the last example of a musical journey Bowie traversed since the beginning, or at least…
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My Favorite Books of 2023
One of the things I did in 2023 that really helped me remember what I read was my notecard habit. For everything I watched or read, I wrote down my thoughts on a 4×6 lined index card along with the date. I particularly appreciated the finite space of an index card. Granted, sometimes I’d write a review for a blog and the notecard would be “See blog” but those times were rare. Lots of Comics I ended up reading quite a bit in 2023. Now, one of the things that really helped bump up the total was my decision in the summer to read a comic book per day from…
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It’s a Good Thing the Crooks Are Not Very Smart in The Christmas Thief
Gather ‘round kids and let me tell about something we had back in the day. Here in Houston, there was a store that let you rent audiobooks just like Blockbuster. T’was a great store, especially in the days before digital audiobooks are everywhere. One of the books I listened to decades ago was The Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark. What I didn’t know then was that this was the second Christmas novel that Mary and Carol wrote together. What made these books special—other than the mother/daughter relationship—was the crossover aspect of the stories. One of Mary’s series featured lottery winner, Alvirah Meehan, and…
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Want a New Short Story Everyday for the Christmas Season?
We are in December now and the 2023 holiday season has begun. I’ve already been listening to my Christmas albums—always start with Chicago’s three Christmas albums—but made a fun discovery this year: Richard Marx’s “Christmas Spirit.” Boy, is that a fun song, and you really must watch the cameo-filled video. I’ve also started my season’s readings and, for the past past five years, my annual Christmas reading is anchored by an Advent calendar of short stories. The WMG Holiday Spectacular is the brainchild of veteran author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She wondered what it would be like to have a new short story each day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.…
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Not All Turkeys Are On The Table in Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier
If it seem like I just reviewed a Leslie Meier book last month, then you are absolutely correct. But the number of Thanksgiving-themed mysteries are rather small, so I read one of Meier’s two helpings. Time Jumps and an Aging Protagonist A more logical reader might read each book in a long-running series in order, but Turkey Trot Murder (2017) was the only audiobook available at the library. It is Meier’s 24th (out of 30 by next year). As a result, I had a bit of whiplash when I landed back in Tinker’s Cove, Maine, and our heroine, Lucy Stone. She’s now a full-time report for the local weekly, but…
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What’s Scary Is If You Don’t Read Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier
As I wrote last October, if there’s a holiday and you want to read a mystery featuring that holiday, Leslie Meier has you covered. Starting in 1991, Meier has written 36 mysteries starring Lucy Stone, a mom, wife, and citizen of Tinker’s Cove, Maine. The first book I read, Back to School Murder (the 4th overall), Lucy fills in at the local newspaper and that’s what gets the crime on her radar. Trick or Treat Murder (1996) is the third book, but first of her Halloween stories and I reckoned I might as well start there. It’s Almost All a Domestic Story… A series is nothing if you don’t like…
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When Tragedy Struck, Chicago Bounced Back and Delivered a Key Album: Hot Streets at 45
Now what?That must have been the thoughts of the members of the band Chicago after fellow founding member Terry Kath’s untimely death in January 1978. The previous year, they had released their eleventh album and conducted yet another successful tour. Their last show—the last time Kath performed in public—was 1 December 1977 and they had already decided to move in a different direction by parting ways with James William Guercio, their producer and manager since 1969. The year 1978 was going to be a time of change and transition anyway. Soon after Kath’s death and funeral, the band had to wonder if they should move on as a band or…