With the release of the first season of Luke Cage on Netflix slated for this Friday, September 30th and the upcoming Doctor Strange premiering roughly a month and a half later, Marvel Studios is running on all cylinders, pumping out hit after hit.

But so far, the silver screen super heroes are much different in look and feel than their streaming season counterparts. The Marvel movies have a certain lighthearted wit and “gotta save the world(s)” feel to them, where crashing through a building hardly leaves a bruise and everything wraps up with a happy ending. However, the NY defenders of the smaller screen deal with darker, more adult themes, and the realistic violence often has real consequences.

But which do you prefer? Vote on which Marvel Universe you enjoy the best!

[Vote below!]

I’ve heard it said that writers are God’s garbage men. We pick up people’s cast off details and deeds—some inspiring, some appalling—and use them to create our stories. 

For mystery writers, the newspaper is also a rich place to rummage through. Southern crime writer Ace Atkins commented, “I don’t have to make up plots. I just read the local papers.” Atkins’s latest, The Innocents, centers on a horrific story taken from a Mississippi news article about a former cheerleader who was set on fire and left to die, apparently by a trusted friend. Atkins does a stellar job of turning a true tale into fiction.

Read David Cranmer's review of The Innocents!

Think about the novels, movies, and news stories that have stayed with you. They’re often about powerful people who’ve forsaken the trust of those who most rely on them. Think of the mother in Judith Guest’s Ordinary People, who hated her second son just for being born. The revelation that priests have been abusing children for decades is abhorrent, but the Vatican’s coverup of the crimes is the ultimate betrayal.   

[Read more from author Lisa Turner!]

After a debate about betrayal and the ultimate goal last week for Chapter 3, we step into the darkness of the mountain and into the hands of the slow mutants for Chapter 4...

Thank you for joining me on a reread of what Stephen King has called his magnum opus, The Dark Tower series featuring Roland of Gilead, the gunslinger. It’s been 38 years since Roland’s quest began in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and four years since the last Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012). Let’s see if this equal parts Western, mystery, horror, science fiction, and fantasy epic still packs a punch.

*Remember: While this is a reread, please avoid spoilers in the comments. The point is to get there together!

The plan is to read a chapter a week, and each Tuesday we will meet to discuss major themes, motifs, and reactions. Make sure to bookmark the HQ page for the schedule and links to all of the chapter discussions as they go live! This chapter is dark in more ways than one—so let's shed some light on Chapter 4 of The Gunslinger:

CrimeHQ's The Dark Tower Reread

[“Go then. There are other worlds than these.”]

If the Season 5 premiere of Longmire was a bit slow on the windup, then “One Good Memory” delivers a fastball that wraps up the mystery of the missing Dr. Donna Monaghan (Ally Walker). 

It starts nerve-wracking enough for Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) as he hurries in the middle of the night to neighboring Cumberland County to see if a reported Jane Doe is the good physician. Have to confess, I was fooled by Walt’s emotive reaction to the woman on the slab, but it turns out not to be Donna, leading him to ask a deputy of Cumberland named Eamonn O’Neill (Josh Cooke) for assistance. You may remember Eamonn from when he subbed in Absaroka County and had a brief roll between the sheets with Vic (Katee Sackhoff).

[Read David Cranmer's review of “One Good Memory”...]

Combustion by Martin J. Smith is a page-turning thriller with a sh0cking twist (Available September 27, 2016).

Detective Ron Starke is having a torrid time of it all. A body shows up at the bottom of the local pond—a midnight swim gone wrong, possibly. It’s true that alcohol mixed with unexpected cold temperatures can have a shocking effect on a person in the water, particularly if it is in a place they are not used to swimming. However, the heavy piece of computer machinery with a steel cable looped through the handle, around the victim’s neck, then back through the handle again and secured with a combination lock suggests an accident this, most certainly, is not. 

The victim is a man who has done very well for himself: a big house, a big wife with big hair and a big history, a big bank account, and—due to his abrasive and unforgiving personality—a big long list of people who may have provided the anchor to take him down his one way journey to the bottom of a cold, dark, slimy pond. 

[Read Dirk Robertson's review of Combustion...]

The Reckoning on Cane Hill is a terrifying and heartbreaking new novel of guilt and innocence, from CWA Dagger-­winner Steve Mosby.

In a world where guilt and innocence are in the eye of the beholder, what if you could see someone's sins? What would their sin look like?

Charlie Matheson wore her sins like a badge of repentance. An elaborate spider's web of scars covered her face. Each line carefully crafted. A message intended for the world to see. She claims these marks were put there by the Devil in Hell.

But that wasn't the message Charlie was there to deliver. 

Two years prior, Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson died in a car crash. Now, she's back from the dead to deliver a message for retired Detective John Mercer's ears only. A detective haunted by his own demons.

[Read Cindy Kerschner's review of The Reckoning on Cane Hill...]

Season 5 opens in an outpouring of emotion with Cady Longmire (Cassidy Freeman) imploring, “Please don’t leave me, Dad!” Her father, Sheriff Walter Longmire (Robert Taylor), is writhing in his own blood, shot at home by an unknown assailant. 

He’s not laid up for long though. Not since the old Gunsmoke days, when Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) could take a slug and keep on tracking, has a hero thrown health to the wind like when the strong-willed, determined Walt leaves the hospital. He’s looking for Dr. Donna Monaghan (Ally Walker), who had been sharing his bed when the assailant struck. Only Walt’s blood is initially found at the scene, so a kidnapping is assumed.  

Walt believes there is a connection to the shady oil company that he’s been investigating and that the still-at-large Walker Browning (Callum Keith Rennie) is involved. The Ferg (Adam Bartley) is leaning toward Zachary (Barry Sloane), who Walt had fired, while Victoria “Vic” Moretti (Katee Sackhoff) thinks the wisest choice is to investigate patients of Dr. Monaghan who have been known to do a crazy thing or two like set a van on fire. 

[Read David Cranmer's review of “A Fog That Won't Lift”...]

Our season is at an end, and it couldn’t have been a more exciting finale. The entire season seemed to be leading up to this event. Agatha Raisin (Ashley Jensen) is getting ready for her upcoming nuptials—to James Lacey (Jamie Glover). 

Drunk at her hen party, Agatha tells Gemma (Katy Wix) that her only wish is for Gemma to get together with Bill Wong (Matt McCooey). Meanwhile, a homeless man is looking at a newspaper announcement of PR guru Agatha Raisin’s upcoming marriage, and he seems quite disturbed by it. We know this will not bode well for Agatha.

Church bells ring and James and Charles Fraith (Jason Merrells) are in the church waiting for the bride. Roy Silver (Mathew Horne) walks Aggie down the aisle. However, the blissful event is interrupted when Bill Wong runs in yelling “Stop!” Is Bill trying to stop the wedding because he has a crush on Agatha? Nope. He’s putting an end to the wedding because Agatha’s husband—and the homeless man we see at the beginning—Jimmy Raisin (Jason Thorpe), is still alive. So she’s kinda still married; great timing on Bill’s part.

[Read Kerry Hammond's review of “The Murderous Marriage”...]

October—literally the best month of the year. Unfortunately, Netflix seems to have missed the mark because I'm seeing a disappointingly small amount of decent horror films coming this month. Good thing I have my own collection—Halloween horror nights at my house!

Thankfully, if you're like me, you might have an episode or two left of Marvel's Luke Cage come October 1st. If not, here is a convenient list of all of the new thrillers/mysteries/crime films coming to Netflix in October 2016.

*Honorable mention: Black Mirror returns on October 21st

[Check out the list here...]

These are some of the more interesting, weird, and crazy true crime related stories from the past week (09/17/16 - 09/24/16):

• Woman charged with stabbing man who refused sex with her


• Man cuffed behind back took off with squad car


• South Florida woman hid pot in girl's lunchbox during traffic stop


• Police seek pet store theft suspect who shoved snake down his pants


• Woman allegedly offered meth for sale in wrong-number text to police officer


• Man proves awful at buying Dark Web explosives


• Man Crashes into Kmart While Running from Police


• Canadian Mint employee accused of hiding $135k worth of gold…up his ass

It must be stressful to live in a town like Carsely in the Cotswolds, where there seems to be murder around every corner. I wouldn't judge Agatha Raisin one bit for needing to unwind every now and then with a nice cocktail or two.

So, relax with a variety of delicious cocktails for this week's Pick Your Poison—where we create a cocktail inspired by a recently published mystery, thriller, or crime novel—“Drinking Up Daisies,” an ice-cold sour made with your spirit of choice, inspired by M.C. Beaton's 27th Agatha Raisin Mystery, Pushing Up Daisies!

[Check out the recipe below!]

THE SUBGENRE: Cartoon noir.
THE HERO(ES): Private eye Eddie Valiant and the eponymous Toon.
THE VILLAIN: The mad Judge Doom.
THE LOVE INTEREST(S): Loyal “Girl Friday” Dolores and femme fatale Jessica.
THE SETTING: An alternate 1940's Hollywood.

1947, Hollywood. It's a familiar setting to any fan of noir.

This Hollywood, however, is different in one very significant way: there's a strange neighborhood on its fringe called Toontown. It's a Technicolor dream world with inhabitants that are downright animated...

Private eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) has a chip on his shoulder the size of Gibraltar when it comes to Toons: those brightly-colored, two-dimensional characters that routinely smash through walls, break plates over their heads, and burst into frequent song and dance numbers—anything to make people laugh. 

[Don't hit me! I'll hit me! Cause I'm craaaazzzyyyy...]

A man was caught on security camera cleaning out a cash register of all its money at a YMCA. But here’s the thing: it turns out the cash register was actually a children’s toy filled with fake “play-money” instead of the real thing. Yup, this guy was a master thief...if he lived in the world of Monopoly. 

The suspect was filmed breaking into the YMCA Child Development Center in California by busting through the ceiling tiles and dropping to the floor. Once on the ground, he made his way to a [toy] cash register, smashed it open, and pocketed the [phony] cash inside before exiting through the front door.

Local police believe the suspect is no stranger to this type of crime. 

“Thieves tend to have specific MOs that they follow, stuff they get comfortable with,” Sergeant Dan Marshall told reporters. “They don’t get caught doing it once and they figure, 'Hey, it’s a tried and true method,' and then they stick to it.”

According to ABC, local police are now using the footage to try and track down the suspect. I suggest they look for him in Candy Land.

Here is the video for your viewing pleasure:

When literary laureates list their picks for great American novels, rarely are crime novels brought up in the same breath. Sure, there were plenty of bestsellers in the genre that led to more acclaimed film adaptations (Mario Puzo’s The Godfather being perhaps the most obvious), and certain authors like Jim Thompson were even lauded for how transgressive they were able to be with the genre, but, as a whole, the genre was collectively seen by reviewers as pulp, shallow, and ultimately disposable. A shame, too, as at its strongest, crime fiction can eclipse preposterous ideas and represent something undeniably human. Perhaps the most indispensable example of this is Don Carpenter’s first novel: Hard Rain Falling.

A generation-spanning story set in America’s West Coast (primarily in Oregon and Northern California) in the mid-20th century, the book recounts the lives of two street-raised kids and their tribulations into adulthood. We’re first introduced to Jack Levitt, an orphaned teenager in Portland who spends his rebellious days seeking sex and booze and partaking in crimes with his local gang. His life takes a real turn-around, however, when he meets Billy Lancing, a light-skinned Negro from Seattle who has run away from home to try and make it as a billiard champ. Levitt forms a strong bond with Lancing that takes them from the dingy pool halls of Portland to a tumultuous prison sentence—and an unexpected happiness that follows.

[Read Peter Foy's review of the lost American classic, Hard Rain Falling...]

Kevin Smith’s Dogma is a biting and insightful look at many mythologies and modern religions. And while some of it is a little sharp, there is insight in its critique as well. Smith attempts to present a unified system of mythological entities borrowed from different cultures. This idea, though, is not his own, as nearly every culture in the world attempts the same in order to justify its own cultural supremacy.

Smith borrows Loki from Norse mythology. As anyone who is familiar with Marvel’s Thor (the comic or the film adaptation), Loki is not really a nice guy. He wants to destroy things, play tricks, and generally just cause mischief. The angel in Dogma, then, is a perfect incarnation of Loki, but Matt Damon's version has been reassigned to be an angel instead of a pagan deity.

[Maaaatt Daaamonnnnn....]