My Friday Post, including a Reading / Book Update and My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre

Well, I have to say that I am ticked off. The Premiership Football season started today. Since I met Jo back in 2002, I've become addicted to my weekend Premiership watching on Sportsnet and TSN. Today I checked to see if the first game of the season between Liverpool and Norwich was being broadcast, only to discover it wasn't. I checked for the weekend schedule, once again to discover that no games were being broadcast. So I did a bit of a search and found out that the Canadian rights have been purchased by some streaming service. So if I want to pay for this service, $20 per month, I won't be watching any of the games this year. Totally angry and frustrated. I guess I might just cancel both TSN and Sportsnet once baseball season finishes, unless there are enough figure skating and curling to watch to make it worthwhile keeping them. Stupid DAZN!!

Oh well, on to my weekend update. I received a couple of books in the mail yesterday that I will update. I also finished a book this morning and will be starting a new one. I'll also take a look at another mystery writer today, continuing my look at the American Cop sub-genre of the Mystery genre. So let's get going.

New Books

1. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy.












"The depression of the 1930s led people to desperate measures to survive. The marathon dance craze, which flourished at that time, seemed a simple way for people to earn extra money dancing the hours away for cash, for weeks at a time. But the underside of that craze was filled with a competition and violence unknown to most ballrooms."

2. A Possibility of Violence by D.A. Mishani. I read Mishani's first mystery and enjoyed it very much. This is the sequel to his Inspector Avraham Avraham series. 










"An explosive device is found in a suitcase near a daycare center in Holon, a quiet suburb of Tel Aviv. A few hours later, a threat is received: the suitcase was only the beginning. And it is.

Inspector Avraham Avraham, back in Israel after a long vacation he had taken to recover from his last case (in the acclaimed The Missing File), is assigned to the investigation. Anxious about the nursery’s children, he acts fast. He has a number of suspects, though, and one of them, a father of two, has seemingly gone on the run. Is he related to the suitcase and the threat? Is he trying to escape Avraham’s investigation or did he commit another crime, possibly more terrible, one that no one knows has been committed?"

Just Completed

1. Broken by Kelley Armstrong (Women of the Otherworld #6).












"Broken is the sixth book in Kelley Armstrong Women of the Otherworld series and the 2nd I've read. It's probably better to read the books in order but everything seemed to make sense and it was easy to get the picture of where the lives of the characters seemed to have gone since the 1st book. I think this one was a bit silly even for a fantasy but it was still an enjoyable, quick read.

We find Elena, the werewolf, heavily pregnant with the assistance of her mate, Clay. They still reside with pack alpha, Jeremy Danvers and the rest of their pack in Upper New York. They receive a call from an old acquaintance requesting their assistance. This involves going to Toronto, Elena's old stomping grounds, to commit a B&E and steal a letter, purported to have been from Jack the Ripper, from a wizard. This involves some tricky partial switching from werewolf form to human, which is kind of neat.

What results from this theft is that a portal is opened releasing zombies and maybe Jack the Ripper himself. Elena, her werewolf mates and other friends must now race to close the portal and prevent the city of Toronto from succumbing to ancient diseases and also to keep themselves alive. Witch Jaime comes to assist and they also meet Zoe a vampire who may have been involved in the original theft of the From Hell letter. It's all very convoluted and confusing, lots of suspects and theories about what happened and what to do about it. Jeremy and the other werewolves must keep Elena and her baby safe and Clay steadily declines after being scratched by an infected zombie. It's a bit of a whirlwind adventure, silly at times, sexy at times and with lots of action. I wouldn't write home about it, but it was still a fun read. (2.5 stars)"

Currently Reading
This is a new author for me.

1. The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Beynon Rees (Omar Yussef #1).











"The murder of a leader of the Palestinian Martyrs Brigade leads to the arrest of George Saba, a Palestinian Christian accused of collaborating with the Israelis. Omar Yussef, a modest history teacher at a United Nations school in the West Bank, is impelled to investigate the murder to exonerate his former pupil, who he knows is innocent. As he struggles to save George, Omar Yussef is drawn into a complex plot where it is impossible to tell friend from enemy."

My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American Cops, Part 10

J.T. Ellison

1. J.T. Ellison - Lt. Taylor Jackson. There are currently 8 novels in this series, including a 2016 prequel. I have yet to read any but I do have two of the books on my book shelf.

a. All the Pretty Girls (#1 / 2007).












"Some secrets should stay buried.

When a local girl falls prey to a sadistic serial killer, Nashville Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson and her lover, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, find themselb. ves in a joint investigation pursuing a vicious murderer. The Southern Strangler is slaughtering his way through the Southeast, leaving a gruesome memento at each crime scene -- the prior victim's severed hand.

Ambitious TV reporter Whitney Connolly is certain the Southern Strangler is her ticket out of Nashville; she's got a scoop that could break the case. She has no idea how close this story really is -- or what it will cost her.

As the killer spirals out of control, everyone involved must face a horrible truth -- that the purest evil is born of private lies."

b. So Close the Hand of Death (#6 / 2011).












"It's a hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back...and he's got helpers.

As The Pretender's disciples perpetrate their sick homages--stretching police and the FBI dangerously thin--Taylor tries desperately to prepare for their inevitable showdown. And she must do it alone. To be close to her is to be in mortal danger, and she won't risk losing anyone she loves. But the isolation, the self-doubt and the rising body count are taking their toll--she's beside herself and ready to snap.

The brilliant psychopath who both adores and despises her is drawing close. Close enough to touch...."

The remaining books in the series are -
- 14 (2008)
- Judas Kiss (2009)
- The Cold Room (2010)
- The Immortals (2010)
- Where All The Dead Lie (2011)
- Field of Graves (2016, a Prequel introducing Lt Taylor Jackson)

So there you go. I'll continue with this my next post... unless I have other things to say. 😉.. Have a great weekend.