Book Review: Cooked to Death

Book Review: Cooked to Death edited by Rhonda Gilliland and Michael Allan Mallory Let’s return to the world of themed anthologies, a quick way to get a sample of various authors writing on a particular topic. In this case, it’s primarily Minnesota and other Midwestern writers doing crime and mystery short stories around the topic… Continue reading Book Review: Cooked to Death

Book Review: Undeveloped: A Pine County Mystery

Book Review: Undeveloped: A Pine County Mystery by Dean L. Hovey Pine County is on the eastern edge of Minnesota, about halfway between the Twin Cities and Duluth. It’s a rural area, with a fair amount of relatively new growth pine timber (you may have heard of the Hinckley Fire.) Much of the economy depends… Continue reading Book Review: Undeveloped: A Pine County Mystery

Book Review: Enter the Jackal

Cover by Krocker Klaus

Book Review: Enter the Jackal by Jonathan W. Sweet As you may have noticed by now, I’m a fan of the pulps. But I’m certainly not the most enthusiastic one, or most knowledgeable. Some folks have made the pulp magazines their main focus. Jonathan W. Sweet runs a reprint press, Brick Pickle Pulp, and does… Continue reading Book Review: Enter the Jackal

Book Review: Secret Murder: Who Shall Judge?

Cover art by Alicia Austin

Book Review: Secret Murder: Who Shall Judge? by Ellen Kuhfeld Ragnar Forkbeard, iron-monger, and Olaf Far-Traveler, trader in exotic goods, have come from Surtsheim in the north to Northlanding, the falls that block boats from coming any further up the Great River. It is time for the great spring fair and the merchants have come… Continue reading Book Review: Secret Murder: Who Shall Judge?

Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021

Cover by Brian Stauffer

Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021 edited by Janet Hutchings “The years keep coming and they just keep coming.” It seems like just a few months ago I reviewed a 75th anniversary issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, but in fact it was five years ago, and here’s the 80th anniversary issue. It’s… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September/October 2021

Book Review: Blood Vengeance

Book Review: Blood Vengeance by Stuart Jason Today, we’re looking at another entry in the Seventies men’s adventure paperback series category, #13 (of 35) in “The Butcher” series. Bucher (who only has one name due to the orphanage administrator being drunk at the time) was a foundling who ran away from the orphanage, but was… Continue reading Book Review: Blood Vengeance

Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction July 1939

Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction July 1939 edited by John W. Campbell Astounding Science Fiction is now Analog, which is still being published; see earlier reviews on this blog. Today I’m looking at a key issue from the pulp days, July 1939. First, there’s this classic cover by Graves Gladney. Up front is “Addenda”, an… Continue reading Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction July 1939

Book Review: The Book of Poul Anderson

Book Review: The Book of Poul Anderson edited by Roger Elwood Poul Anderson (1926-2001) was an influential American science fiction author, first published in 1947 and winning seven Hugos and three Nebulas for his work. By the 1970s, he was well enough known, and had a large enough body of short fiction, that DAW Books… Continue reading Book Review: The Book of Poul Anderson

Book Review: Murder on a Stick

Book Review: Murder on a Stick by S.L. Smith It is 2013, and the Minnesota State Fair is crowded with thousands of people eating food on sticks. Usually the worst that could happen is a case of indigestion. But today, someone has put one of the sticks to a more sinister use–murder! Virginia Green is… Continue reading Book Review: Murder on a Stick

Book Review: Thief River Falls

Book Review: Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman “Write what you know.” Thriller author Lisa Power followed that maxim in her fourth book, entitled Thief River Falls. It’s set in her home town of Thief River Falls, Minnesota and features real locations there, and even the real names of some of the residents. The verisimilitude… Continue reading Book Review: Thief River Falls