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Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole (TV Series REVIEW) — A Brilliant Detective Battles His Inner—and Outer—Demons in Oslo

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A troubled cop—who battles his demons in spectacularly-destructive ways. A host of coworkers—superiors, equals, and underlings—who unfailingly believe in him...up until the point he slips. Again. And one coworker-slash-rival who harbors a monumental grudge. All brought together by a murder that has some strangely-symbolic overtones. And then another... with the same symbolisms. Meanwhile, a major controversy is brewing over whether or not the police should be armed, as Oslo faces a scary upswing in gang activity... and homicides. And then, there’s also the question of corruption, within the force. Enough signs are pointing to it for Harry not to notice. This is the powder keg we step into, in  Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole , on Netflix.     Anyone who’s worked with Detective Harry Hole generally has one of two opinions about him—he’s a brilliant cop, somehow able to get into a killer’s mind—including the terrifying headspace of a serial killer, or, that he can be a good cop.....
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The Insomniacs, by Allison Winn Scotch (REVIEW) — The Things That Keep Us Up at Night Cut Deep

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  insomnia: inability to obtain sufficient sleep, especially when chronic; difficulty in falling or staying asleep; sleeplessness.   There are all sorts of reasons for insomnia. For most people, it’s just an occasional problem. Not fun to go through—feeling cranky, tired, and muzzy-headed—but once it’s over, things tend to go back to normal. Imagine if sleeplessness was your “normal”, though. Something that went on night after night after night... leaving you in a  permanent  state of absolute exhaustion, with your body—and brain—never getting the chance to rest and heal. That’s where four strangers find themselves, in  New York Times  bestselling author Allison Will Scotch’s new thriller,  The Insomniacs .   Sybil—a midlife stay-at-home mom, anxious and sleepless since her kids went off to college—listens to all the true-crime podcasts she can find, to cope. Julian—a secretive widower whose health forced him into an early retirement—laments all t...
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The Pie & Mash Detective Agency, by J.D. Brinkworth (REVIEW) — Detective Dreams and Millennial Mishaps

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Millennials: The demographic cohort born between 1981 and 1996, they were the first generation to grow up with internet technology and digital literacy, and are typically described as tech-savvy, socially-connected, and civic-minded.  Also, Millennials: The Snowflake Generation (derogatory). Often used to imply members of this generation are fragile, oversensitive, and entitled.  It is the (untaught, though clearly passed-down through the ages) duty of every generation to mock the generations that follow. [Not convinced? Ask yourself if you’ve ever heard a parent, grandparent, or elderly neighbor starting a sentence with, “When I was your age,” then end it with something like, “...walked three miles in the snow, uphill, to go to school,” and you’ll likely understand.]  Anyway, all of that was firmly in the back of my mind during my read of J.D. Brinkworth’s amusing detective mystery, The Pie & Mash Detective Agency .  Thoroughly-Millennial Jane Pye and Simon Ma...
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Wolf Hour, by Jo Nesbø (REVIEW) -- When a Lone Wolf is Out for Blood

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We toss around the phrase “lone wolf”, often romanticizing it far more than we probably should. The definition, of course, is right there in the words. “Lone”, as in loner... something or someone who prefers to do, well,  whatever,  on their own. It’s the second part we usually glance over—“wolf”. An intelligent and savage predator, in the animal kingdom... but nearly as admirable or romantic, when applied to humankind.  In his latest thriller,  Wolf Hour , bestselling Norwegian author Jo Nesbø pits a pair of lone wolves against each other... forcing the reader to look beneath the surface, to find the humanity and reason in scenes of savagery.     In 2016, Minneapolis, Minnesota has more than its share of serious crime... including the case of a gun dealer, seriously wounded—though not killed—by a shot from above. No one saw—or knows—anything, but the police eventually settle on a former gang member, Tomas Gomez, as the probable sniper wanna-be. Gomez is no...
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I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home, by Fergus Craig (REVIEW) -- A Darkly-Comic Seniors' Home Murder Mystery

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I’ve never been one of those people who say they can’t wait to “grow old”. I couldn’t wait to grow up , but  old ? No way. And yet, as I suspect most of my fellow Gen Xers—and probably  all  Boomers, out there—have gradually come to realize, doing so sure beats the alternative. So maybe it’s time to reframe how we look at aging. If we do our best to maintain our health, stay as fit as possible, keep our brains active, and hang onto our friends, then getting old... er ... doesn’t sound like such a scary and dreadful future, right ? Not convinced? (I ’m still trying to convince myself, here; this is a work in progress. 🙃 )  Anyway, just do yourself a solid and pick up a copy of Fergus Craig’s delightful  I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home , and see if reading it doesn’t put your mind at ease a bit.     After spending too many decades in prison, just-released ex-serial killer Carol feels like she’s suddenly landed in the middle of a dream, g...
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Atlas of Unknowable Things, by McCormick Templeman (REVIEW) -- Modern Gothic Tale of Witches & Werewolves Needs Less Words, More Bite

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The cut-throat, “publish-or-perish” world of academia.   Ancient manuscripts.  An historian with a secret side quest. An ex-bestie turned bitter rival. A tiny, elite college, nestled high in the stunning peaks of the Rocky Mountains... where winter is always coming. These are the bones of McCormick Templeman’s gothic-leaning thriller,  Atlas of Unknowable Things .     Ever since Robin Quain and her best friend, a fellow historian, fell out, it seems like nothing’s been going right. Her beloved dog crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Her boyfriend unceremoniously dumped her. And, she hasn't experienced a breakthrough in her dissertation—arguing the European witch hunts were as much about getting rid of powerful women as eradicating suspected practitioners of witchcraft—leaving her PhD more pipe dream than reality. Until, that is, she runs across a letter mentioning correspondence between Joan of Arc and the infamous French knight, Gilles de Rais, which sparks new avenues...
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Made You Look, by Tanya Grant (REVIEW) -- When Being an Influencer is Murder

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Jetting off for cool photoshoots in exotic places.  Being the instantly-recognizable face of high-end luxury products and fantasy experiences. Enjoying the rush from seeing “likes” numbering in the hundreds of thousands on your last Instagram post or TikTok video. Ah, the glamorous life of the Influencer... Or so it’s easy to think.  But, like the old saying goes, “all that glitters is not gold”, there’s a less-shiny, less-sexy side to being a social media darling. Tanya Grant peels back the curtain to give us a peek at what being an internet sensation is  really  like in her debut thriller,  Made You Look .      A week-long, all-expenses-paid trip to Reverie Retreat, a posh, not-yet-open-to-the-public ecolodge nestled deep in the Catskills. For mega-Influencer Sydney Kent—along with her little entourage of fellow influencers, stylist, photog, and publicity manager—it’s a sweet gig, posting content hyping the new retreat prior to its grand opening...
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