Friday, April 26, 2019

Friday's "Forgotten" Books and More: the links to the reviews: 26 April 2019: Philip Abbott memorial


This week's books and more, unfairly (or sometimes fairly) neglected, or simply those the reviewers below think you might find of some interest (or, infrequently, you should be warned away from); certainly, most weeks we have a few not at all forgotten titles...if I've missed your review or someone else's, please let me know in comments. 



Megan and Philip Abbott


Young Philip Abbott

2019 Edgar Awards: winners and shortlist

As presented on 26 April:
***marks the winners

Best Novel         
The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard (Blackstone Publishing)
House Witness by Mike Lawson (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
A Gambler’s Jury by Victor Methos (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
***Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley (Hachette Book Group – Mulholland)
Only to Sleep by Lawrence Osborne (Penguin Random House – Hogarth)
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

Best First Novel
A Knife in the Fog by Bradley Harper (Seventh Street Books)
The Captives by Debra Jo Immergut (HarperCollins Publishers – Ecco)
The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs (Simon & Schuster – Touchstone)
***Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin (HarperCollins Publishers – Ecco)
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Best Paperback Original
***If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
Hiroshima Boy by Naomi Hirahara (Prospect Park Books)
Under a Dark Sky by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)
Under My Skin by Lisa Unger (Harlequin – Park Row Books)

Best Fact Crime
***Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation 
by Robert W. Fieseler (W.W. Norton & Company – Liveright)
Sex Money Murder: A Story of Crack, Blood, and Betrayal
by Jonathan Green (W.W. Norton & Company)
The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure 
by Carl Hoffman (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century 
by Kirk Wallace Johnson (Penguin Random House – Viking)
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
by Michelle McNamara (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)
The Good Mothers: The True Story of the Women Who Took on the World's Most Powerful Mafia by Alex Perry (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)

Best Critical/Biographical
The Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective Fiction by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland Publishing)
Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow Paperbacks)

***Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s  by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus Books)
Mark X: Who Killed Huck Finn's Father? by Yasuhiro Takeuchi (Taylor & Francis – Routledge)
Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson (Pegasus Books)

Best Short Story
“Rabid – A Mike Bowditch Short Story” by Paul Doiron (Minotaur Books)
“Paranoid Enough for Two” – The Honorable Traitors by John Lutz (Kensington Publishing)
“Ancient and Modern” – Bloody Scotland by Val McDermid (Pegasus Books)
***“English 398: Fiction Workshop” – Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine by Art Taylor (Dell Magazines)
“The Sleep Tight Motel” – Dark Corners Collection by Lisa Unger (Amazon Publishing)

Best Juvenile
Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott (HarperCollins Children’s Books – Katherine Tegen Books)
Zap! by Martha Freeman (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)
Ra the Mighty: Cat Detective by A.B. Greenfield (Holiday House)
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson (Christy Ottaviano Books – Henry Holt BFYR)
***Otherwood by Pete Hautman (Candlewick Press)
Charlie & Frog: A Mystery by Karen Kane (Disney Publishing Worldwide – Disney Hyperion)
Zora & Me: The Cursed Ground by T.R. Simon (Candlewick Press

Young Adult
Contagion by Erin Bowman (HarperCollins Children’s Books – HarperCollins)
Blink by Sasha Dawn (Lerner Publishing Group – Carolrhoda Lab)
After the Fire by Will Hill (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Fire)
A Room Away From the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma (Algonquin Young Readers)
***Sadie by Courtney Summers (Wednesday Books)

TV Episode Teleplay
“The Box” - Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Teleplay by Luke Del Tredici (NBC/Universal TV)
“Season 2, Episode 1” – Jack Irish, Teleplay by Andrew Knight (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” – Mystery Road, Teleplay by Michaeley O’Brien (Acorn TV)
“My Aim is True” – Blue Bloods, Teleplay by Kevin Wade (CBS Eye Productions)
***“The One That Holds Everything” – The Romanoffs, Teleplay by Matthew Weiner & Donald Joh (Amazon Prime Video)

Robert L. Fish Memorial
“How Does He Die This Time?” – Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine by Nancy Novick (Dell Magazines)

Mary Higgins Clark Award
A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur Books)
A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington Publishing)
Bone on Bone by Julia Keller (Minotaur Books)
***The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
A Borrowing of Bones by Paula Munier (Minotaur Books)

The G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Awards
Lisa Black, Perish – Kensington
***Sara Paretsky, Shell Game, HarperCollins – William Morrow
Victoria Thompson, City of Secrets, Penguin Random House – Berkley
Charles Todd, A Forgotten Place, HarperCollins – William Morrow
Jacqueline Winspear, To Die But Once, HarperCollins – Harper

Grand Master
Martin Cruz Smith
Raven Award
Marilyn Stasio, Mystery Book Reviewer - The New York Times 

Ellery Queen Award
Linda Landrigan, editor,  Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine

forward by Todd Mason 

Friday, April 19, 2019

Friday's "Forgotten" Books and More: the links to the reviews: 19 April 2019









This week's books and more, unfairly (or sometimes fairly) neglected, or simply those the reviewers below think you might find of some interest (or, infrequently, you should be warned away from); certainly, most weeks we have a few not at all forgotten titles...if I've missed your review or someone else's, please let me know in comments. And sparing a thought for the late Gene Wolfe, who died this past week. 
From left, back row: Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Brian Aldiss,
 Frederik Pohl. Front row: Harlan Ellison, Kate Wilhelm, Ellen Datlow.

Patricia Abbott: News of the World by Paulette Jiles


Barbara Barrett: The Edge of Tomorrow by Howard Fast

Joachim Boaz: New Worlds SF, April 1964, edited by John Carnell

John Boston: Amazing: Fact and Science Fiction Stories,  May 1964, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli

Ben Boulden: "Hawksbill Station" (novella version) by Robert Silverberg

Brian Busby: The March of the White Guard by Gilbert Parker

Susanna Calkins: Death and the Joyful Woman by "Ellis Peters" (Edith Pargeter)

Martin Edwards: Marion aka Murder Off the Record by John Bingham (review removed by ME)


Peter Enfantino: (Proto-Marvel) Atlas Horror Comics, March 1952

Will Errickson: Dead White by Alan Ryan

José Ignacio Escribano: La berlina de Prim ("Prim’s Carriage") by Ian Gibson

Curtis Evans: The Cases of Lieutenant Timothy Trant by "Q. Patrick" (Richard Webb and Hugh Wheeler); "Mrs. B's Black Sheep" by "Q. Patrick"; Speaker of Mandarin by Ruth Rendell

Olman Feelyus: Frankincense and Murder by Baynard Kendrick

Paul Fraser: Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1943, edited by John W. Campbell, Jr. 

John Grant: A Line of Blood by Ben McPherson


Aubrey Hamilton: The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth

Rich Horton: Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis; The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting; Reduction in Arms and The Barons of Behavior by Tom Purdom; Rachel Swirsky's short fiction; The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines; Gene Wolfe, 1931-2019; Fandom Harvest and other fannish writing by Terry Carr

Jerry House: The Vanguard of Venus by Landell BartlettEh!, November-December 1954 (Charlton Comics' first imitation of Mad)

Kate Jackson: The Noonday Devil by Ursula Curtiss; Love Lies Bleeding by Edmund Crispin

Tracy K.: The Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell; Entry Island by Peter May


Colman Keane: Deep Cover and Recoil by Brian Garfield

George Kelley: The Best of Li'l Abner by Al Capp

Joe Kenney: The Great God Now by Edward S. Hanlon; American Avenger #1: Beat a Distant Drum by "Robert Emmett" (Robert L. Waters)

Rob Kitchin: IQ by Joe Ide

B. V. Lawson: Death on Remand by "Michael Underwood" (John Michael Evelyn)

Evan Lewis: "The Ghost of Dutch Emil"  and "Right Hook to Tokyo" by Ed Lacy (prose content in Rangers Comics August 1946 and December 1945 respectively)

Steve Lewis: "Murder, 1986" by P. D. James (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, October 1970, edited by Frederic Dannay); "A Madonna of the Machine" by Tanith Lee (Other Edens II edited by Christopher Evans and Robert Holdstock); Spit in the Ocean by Shelley Singer; "Long Shot" by Vernor Vinge (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, August 1972, edited by Ben Bova); The Saint in New York by Leslie Charteris; Spider-Woman, June 1978, written and illustrated by Marv Wolfman, Carmine Infantino and Tony DeZuniga; "Skin Deep" by Kristin Kathryn Rusch (Amazing Stories, January 1988, edited by Patrick Price)

Lawrence Maddox: the Assignment: novels by Edward S. Aarons


John F. Norris: Dangerous to Me by "Rae Foley" (Elinore Denniston)

John O'Neill: The Nightmare and Other Stories of Dark Fantasy by "Francis Stevens" (Gertrude Barrows Bennett)

Matt Paust: Smoke Detector by Eric Wright 

James Reasoner: Captain Shark #2: Jaws of Death by "Richard Silver" (Kenneth Bulmer)

Richard Robinson: G Stands for Glory: The G-Man Stories by Norvell Page  

Gerard Saylor: Directorate S by Steve Coll

Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino: DC War Comics, October 1974

Steven Silver: "Build Your Own A-Bomb and Wake Up the Neighborhood" by George W. Harper (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, April 1979, edited by Stanley Schmidt)


Victoria Silverwolf: Worlds of Tomorrow, April 1964, edited by Frederik Pohl

Dan Stumpf: The Screaming Mimi by Fredric Brown

Kevin Tipple: ...A Dangerous Thing by Bill Crider

"TomCat": The Complete Cases of Inspector Allhoff, V. 1 by D. L. Champion; "An Urban Legend Puzzle" by Rintaro Norizuki (translation by Beth Cary), Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 2004, edited by Janet Hutchings; The 3-13 Murders by Thomas B. Black











Steve Lewis reviews the James story...note also the brilliant Davidson story...

Friday, April 12, 2019

Friday's "Forgotten" Books and More: the links to the reviews


This week's books and more, unfairly (or sometimes fairly) neglected, or simply those the reviewers below think you might find of some interest (or, infrequently, you should be warned away from); certainly, most weeks we have a few not at all forgotten titles...if I've missed your review or someone else's, please let me know in comments...an apparently coincidental pair of reviews of an Ira Levin short story...and sparing a thought for the late Vonda McIntyre and that today, as Rich Horton reminds us, would've been the 98th birthday of the recently late Carol Emshwiller.

Patricia Abbott: Be True to Your School: A Diary of 1964 by Bob GreeneMaisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Elgin Bleecker: High Sierra by W. R. Burnett

Joachim Boaz: Frostworld and Dreamfire by John Morressy 

John Boston: Amazing: Fact and Science Fiction Stories, June 1963, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli

Ben Boulden: Sleaze by L. A. Morse

Brian Busby: Canadian Mystery Stories edited by Alberto Manguel

Peter Enfantino: Warren Comics, March/April 1966

Will Errickson: Panther! by Alan Ryan

José Ignacio Escribano: "The Nail" by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón 

Curt Evans: Speaker of Mandarin by Ruth Rendell

Olman Feelyus: Cinnamon Skin by John D. MacDonald

Paul Fraser: Astounding Science-Fiction, August 1943, edited by John W. Campbell, Jr.

Mariah Fredericks: God Save the Mark by Donald Westlake

Barry Gardner: A Long Walk Up the Water Slide by Don Winslow


John Grant: The Darkest Room by Johan Theorin (translation by Marlene Delargy)

Aubrey Hamilton: Music Tells All by E. R. Punshon


Rich Horton: Mister Boots by Carol Emshwiller; Sabre Tooth by Peter O'Donnell; James Patrick Kelly stories; Barrington J. Bayley novels; Sarah Pinsker stories; Five Against Arlane by Tom Purdom; Lord of the Green Planet by Emil Petaja; Locus magazine, 1972 and onward

Jerry House: Kiss for a Killerby "G. G. Fickling" (Gloria and Forrest Fickling); Boy Comics, August 1943, edited by Charles Biro 

Kate Jackson: The Seven Deadly Sisters by Patricia McGerr
 


Tracy K: Tarnished Icon by Stuart Kaminsky


Colman Keane: The Stain in the Snow and Act of Passion by Georges Simenon (translations by John Petrie and Louise Varèse, respectively); Atlanta Deathwatch by Ralph Dennis 

George Kelley: The Paperback Fanatic, #41 March 2019, edited by Justin Marriott 

Joe Kenney: Maryjane Tonight at Angels Twelve by Martin Caidin 

Rob Kitchin: Overkill by Vanda Symon

B. V. Lawson: Blood Lines by Ruth Rendell

Evan Lewis: "Something to Remember" by Frederick Nebel, Collier's, 30 November 1940, edited by William Ludlow Chenery

Steve Lewis: "Sylvia" by Ira Levin, Manhunt, April 1955, edited by "John McCloud" (Scott Meredith); "The Long Silence" by Donald Noakes, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, March 1972, edited by Ben Bova; Fletch and the Widow Bradley by Gregory McdonaldRed Cent by Robert Campbell

Todd Mason: What did Jorge Luis Borges and Mike Connors have in common with Simon Templar, "The Saint"? (Not to mention Kookie...): Great American Publications in 1960, slightly augmented... 

John F. Norris: Murder Draws a Line by Willetta Ann Barber and R. F. Schabelitz


John O'Neill: Weirdbook Annual #2: Cthulhu, 2019, edited by Doug Draa

Matt Paust: The Night the Gods Smiled by Eric Wright


J. Kingston Pierce: The Moving Target by "Ross Macdonald" (Kenneth Millar); the covers

James Reasoner: Captain Blood #1: By Pirate's Blood by "Richard Silver" (Kenneth Bulmer)

Richard Robinson: Space Pioneers edited by Hank Davis and Christopher Ruocchio

Gerard Saylor: Lost Girls by Robert Kolker

Jack Seabrook: "Sylvia" by Ira Levin, Manhunt, April 1955, edited by "John McCloud" (Scott Meredith)


Steven Silver: Jem by Frederik Pohl; George O. Smith 

Victoria Silverwolf: Fantastic: Stories of Imagination, June 1963, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli

Dan Stumpf: Gypsy, Go Home by William O'Farrell

Kevin Tipple: Kings of Colorado by David E. Hilton

"TomCat": The 3-13 Murders by Thomas B. Black

David Vineyard: "Men About to Die" by Judson F. Philips, Detective Fiction Weekly, February 2, 1935