Criminal Element

Book Review: Murder in the East End by Jennifer Ashley

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 14:30:24 GMT

The Below Stairs mystery series does not take place solely downstairs, the milieu of talented cook Mrs. Kat Holloway. She’s called missus out of respect for her position, which is on par with the butler and housekeeper. Scandal Above Stairs, the second Below Stairs mystery, called upon Kat and her enigmatic friend Daniel McAdam, to…

The post Book Review: Murder in the East End by Jennifer Ashley appeared first on Criminal Element.

Book Review: Shadows in Time by Julie McElwain

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 21:15:12 GMT

Kendra Donovan, FBI agent displaced in time, is visiting the Tower Of London with her friend Lady Rebecca Blackburn when an altercation captures their attention. They come to the rescue of Horatia Gavenston, a well-to-do middle-aged brewster, who was set upon by an unpleasant old acquaintance but insists it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle herself.…

The post Book Review: Shadows in Time by Julie McElwain appeared first on Criminal Element.

Book Review: The Revelators by Ace Atkins

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 16:00:10 GMT

The Revelators by Ace Atkins is the 10th novel in the Quinn Colson series, where the sheriff returns to take down a criminal syndicate that has ravaged his community, threatened his family, and tried to have him killed. Sheriff Quinn Colson barely survived the ambush that was meant to take him off the board in…

The post Book Review: The Revelators by Ace Atkins appeared first on Criminal Element.

Book Review: Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 16:00:13 GMT

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is the second book in the Locked Tomb Trilogy where a galaxy is turned inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor’s haunted space station. Firstly, do not bother reading this book if you have not already read the superlative Gideon the…

The post Book Review: Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir appeared first on Criminal Element.

The Last Western by Rone Tempest: New Excerpt

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 22:04:26 GMT

Chapter 4: Boomtown I was beginning to think of Rock Springs in a way I knew I would always think of it, a lowdown city full of crimes and whores and disappointments… —Richard Ford, “Rock Springs” 1987 Two men walked into a bar. Actually, it was not yet a drinking establishment. Ed Varley’s family…

The post The Last Western by Rone Tempest: New Excerpt appeared first on Criminal Element.

Book Review: The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 14:30:28 GMT

In The Night Swim, a new thriller from Megan Goldin, a true crime podcast host covering a controversial trial finds herself drawn deep into a small town’s dark past and a brutal crime that took place there years before. Rachel Krall has taken her hit true crime podcast on the road to semi-anonymously cover a…

The post Book Review: The Night Swim by Megan Goldin appeared first on Criminal Element.

Book Review: The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 22:30:29 GMT

The time is 1703, the dawn of a new century. Amateur botanist Lady Cecily Kay has traveled from Smyrna to London. Her diplomat husband encouraged her to leave Turkey; theirs is not an amicable marriage. Cecily has arranged to stay in London at the house of noted collector Sir Barnaby Mayne. Access to his research…

The post Book Review: The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart appeared first on Criminal Element.

Cooking the Books: Murder with Honey Ham Biscuits by A. L. Herbert

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 19:00:01 GMT

I truly love the Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery series—and not just because it’s set a county over from mine in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The fourth installment of this charming culinary cozy series sees our 40-something restaurateur heroine offered a chance to judge an episode of the hit cooking competition show Elite Chef. After…

The post Cooking the Books: Murder with Honey Ham Biscuits by A. L. Herbert appeared first on Criminal Element.

Book Review: His & Hers by Alice Feeney

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 14:30:19 GMT

His & Hers features two life-weary protagonists: Londoner Anna Andrews, a suddenly unemployed television newsreader, demoted to covering breaking stories, and Jack Harper, a detective. The overarching theme is captured by Shakespeare’s, “What’s past is prologue,” (The Tempest). Andrews and Harper, from their vantage points of media and police, are investigating the case of a…

The post Book Review: His & Hers by Alice Feeney appeared first on Criminal Element.

Departure by Joseph Reid: New Excerpt

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 20:00:59 GMT

CHAPTER 1 Thursday, February 23 More often than you’d think, the troublemakers sit in first class. Not the upgraders. They’re so thankful for a golden ticket to the promised land, they stay on best behavior in hopes of proving they belong in the club full-time. Most of them are business types who simply want to…

The post Departure by Joseph Reid: New Excerpt appeared first on Criminal Element.

Book Review: No Woods So Dark as These by Randall Silvis

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 14:30:15 GMT

As I reread the review I wrote for book three in this series, I was struck by the commonalities it shared with book four. No Woods So Dark as These has indeed all the signs and qualities of another masterpiece by Randall Silvis. And yet no two of his books are alike. The very first…

The post Book Review: No Woods So Dark as These by Randall Silvis appeared first on Criminal Element.