I am always so grateful whenever the latest British Library Crime Classics anthology crosses my desk. Having been raised in the fine tradition of sleuthing exemplified by the Golden Age of detective fiction—many if not most of whose practitioners were British—I always look forward to exploring the gems unearthed by Martin Edwards for his thoughtfully…

Meet Billie Webster, Mary Alice Tuttle, Helen Randolph, and Natalie Schuyler—fierce women who comprise a unique female squad of assassins in Deana Raybourn’s new thriller Killers of a Certain Age. The “Museum”—the foursome’s shadowy non-governmental employer—deploys assassins to kill those who need terminating. What started with Nazis is now focused on arms dealers and money…

Bernie and Libby Simmons have plenty of experience catering for all sorts of occasions out of their cafe, A Little Taste of Heaven. Being asked to provide the refreshments for a dog wedding, however, is a first even for them. They’d certainly be more hesitant if the person asking wasn’t one of their employees, Googie.…

Mark Westmoreland’s debut novella, A Violent Gospel, introduced readers to Mack and Marshall Dooley, two roustabout brothers in the north Georgia mountains whose penchant for trouble leads them into a deadly showdown with a psychotic preacher, Randy Jessup, and his criminal flock. Along the way, Mack (from whose point of view the novel is told)…

“We Light the Way”, the fifth episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon, feels like the end of Part 1. Thus far, we’ve been treated to a relatively small cast, just a few major players, and only a few important families. But that is about to change, and change drastically. First, I’d like to raise…

Ten novels—and more than a few screenplays—into my writing career, an interview question rather took me by surprise the other day. What prompts you, I was asked, to open your computer and start writing a new story? Is it the characters, the setting, the politics, the moment in time? And I thought; hell, yes, what…

A frontrunner in the literary world of cold case fiction has emerged this year in the form of Back to the Garden. This new thriller from renowned author Laurie R. King had me hooked from page one. King opens up the novel by diving into the past, and from here seamlessly transports the reader back…

Before a big race, swimmer Michael Phelps listened to a playlist to amp up his energy, increase his focus, and get in the zone. Maybe you can picture him, headphones on, bopping his chin to a beat that was audible only to him. I’m exactly the same. You heard it here first. Michael Phelps and…

On the latest episode of House of the Dragon The Bachelorette, we spent the majority of it through the eyes of Rhaenyra. And while she wasn’t loving the initial pack of suitors parading in front of her, she eventually found a couple people worthy of a rose. Daemon got his first crack at Rhaenyra, giving…

Mysteries featuring historical figures shed light on the times in which they lived. It’s a bonus when the setting is a gorgeous destination. Welcome to Newport, Rhode Island, July 1900. Edwin and Elizabeth Morgan are summering at their Grecian-inspired summer cottage, Beacon Rock, a stunningly beautiful mansion. Emmaline (Emma) Cross and her fiancé, Derrick Andrews,…