Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Bobby Mathews, an exciting up-and-coming author. His new novel Living the Gimmick ($14.95 paperback and $4.99 eBook) was released last spring and is getting rave reviews. His follow-up, Magic City Blues, is due later in the year—both from Shotgun Honey. J.B.: Bobby, thanks for speaking with me, it’s…
How does one account for the sheer number of mysteries in which food, both for good and evil, features prominently? So prominently that it’s virtually a character itself—or at least a character witness. Perhaps it’s because food (the cooking of it, the eating of it, the sharing of it) offers so many lovely options for…
Robert B. Parker’s Someone to Watch Over Me by Ace Atkins is the latest thriller featuring the legendary Boston PI, where Spenser and his young protégé, Mattie Sullivan, take on billionaire money manager running a network of underaged girls for his rich and powerful clients. As a child of the ‘80s, my main exposure to…
Robert B. Parker’s The Bitterest Pill by Reed Farrel Coleman is the 18th book in the Jesse Stone series, where the opioid epidemic has reached Paradise, and Police Chief Jesse Stone must rush to stop the devastation. Why are we hooked on Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone character? The obvious: he’s taciturn, self-deprecating, achingly honest,…
My mom loves Spenser. She has almost every Spenser book Robert B. Parker wrote. Parker himself wrote nearly 70 books, but his characters are so popular his series continued even after his death in 2010. Years ago, I read a couple of Spenser books because they were on my mom’s shelf, but I mostly loved…
Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! This week, Jo Spain’s latest thriller combines with Reed Farrel Coleman’s next Jesse Stone novel highlight an amazing week of books!…
Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! This week, Kristen Lepionka’s sophomore effort combines with a new Murder, She Wrote mystery and Ace Atkins’s latest Robert B. Parker…
Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet by Reed Farrel Coleman is the 16th Jesse Stone novel. Paradise’s Chief of Police Jesse Stone is in a really bad place. None of his usual crutches—booze, throwing a ball into his beloved baseball mitt, babes (consensual relationships with intelligent women), losing himself in police work—are working. His life…
Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! This week, we get a new Longmire mystery and a new Jesse Stone novel! See what other books to snag for…
Christina Dodd, author of Because I'm Watching, shares what she's currently reading, some of her favorite fictional sleuths, and writing characters with PTSD in this exclusive Q&A! Describe Because I’m Watching in five words. Best book I've ever written.
