the Devil's Cold Dish

I reviewed The Devil's Cold Dish over at Criminal Element this week. It's the latest in a series of historical mysteries written by Eleanor Kuhns. The series is set in colonial New England and her protagonist, Will Rees, a Revolutionary War hero who is now a part-time farmer and weaver. Kuhns won the annual Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America first crime novel competition in 2011 and she has not looked back since. If you love historical mysteries that are also really strong on characters, you should check out her series, which began with Death of a Dyer.

Enough

I am sick of colored ribbons.
And it's nice that landmarks around the world are lit up with rainbow lights as nations show their solidarity. But I'm sick of symbols.
What I really want is a Congress that will pass a gun law that will keep automatic rifles off the street.
It's the weapon that killed all those little kids.
It's the weapon that killed those movie goers.
And now it's the weapon that killed those people having a good time on a Saturday night.
I wish I lived in Connecticut and could vote for Rep. Jim Himes, who walked out out of the room today rather than observe another meaningless moment of silence.
Vote your conscience.
Vote for people who support your stance. And don't accept lack of action from those who claim to speak for you if they don't. We have an election coming up and there are "down-ticket" races that are important. Do some research. Do your due diligence. And if you see a chance to vote for sane gun laws, then take it.

Review of Daniel Freidman's Don't Look Back

I grew up in what was essentially a three-generation household. My maternal grandparents stayed with us off and on for months at a time because my grandfather, who’d been born in the last years of the 19^th century and was ancient even when I was a kid, was being treated for various ailments at the VA hospital in the city where we lived. My grandmother hated my father and the feeling was mutual, and their ongoing hostilities made life a living hell for my mother.

I loved my grandmother dearly but she was one tough old woman who spoke her mind and damn the consequences. Buck Schatz, the ornery ex-cop at the center of Daniel Friedman’s new novel (the second in a much-heralded series) reminds me a lot of my grandmother. This was a woman who was such a terrible cook that any time we went to see her, we’d insist on taking her out to eat to avoid having to consume some godawful concoction she’d whip up out of lime gelatin and mayonnaise. And yet, she had no problem criticizing her daughter’s cooking. But at least she had the option of cooking for herself. That’s not true for Bud Schatz, and one of the (many) indignities he’s had to suffer at the Valhalla Estates Assisted Lifestyle Community for Older Adults is that the food is close to inedible.

"Whoever said that life in assisted-living facilities lacked variety clearly never had breakfast at Valhalla. A single plate of scrambled eggs could have burnt bits, cold places, and runny parts."

Ending soon! Suicide Blonde is free until end of day.

My short collection of short stories, Suicide Blonde, is free today. I'm particularly fond of the title story which took me forever to research because I wanted all the little period details to be accurate. The artwork is by Mark Satchwill, who is my long-time collaborator and partner in crime. (He provided many illustrations back in the Dark Valentine days and also provided illos for my stories on NoHo Noir.)

Was Shakespeare a Feminist?

Female empowerment is much in the news today, from actor Maisie Williams calling out a sexist tweet to heads exploding over the idea that a major party has nominated a woman to run for president. (Yes, I'm going to keep mentioning this because it's important!) Over at the Bill/Shakespeare Project, they're asking the same question and they've enlisted actor Eleanor Matsura to discuss it, along with her role as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream. (I love this play but for the life of me, I'm always having to check whether it's Suumer Night's or Summer's Night.) You can watch it here.

And if you're in a mood to binge-watch some Shakespeare, you'll want to check out their YouTube Channel. It's crammed with goodies from a production of King Lear with John Gielgud, Judi Dench (Goneril) and Kenneth Branagh to radio broadcasts of the plays and documentaries on subjects both Shakespearean and tangential (Who killed Cleopatra?)

The Bill/Shakespeare project is an absolute treasture trove.

Shakespeare Meme for Thursday

William Shakespeare was the original word snoot. 

When he couldn't find the perfect word...he made it up.

Are Gargoyles the New Vampires?

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That's what I'm hearing. The next "thing" in paranormal fantasy/romance is going to be gargoyles. I'm okay with that. I really liked Anton Strout's Alchemystic (A Spellmason Chronicle) and its sequels. I also am a HUGE fan of Strout's Simon Canderous novels. They're really first rate urban fantasy.

It really is time for something new and different in the paranormal world. I don't mind vampires--there's something primal about the whole vampire thing and I get it. But I've never been that crazy abotu werewolves, and when the whole "shifter" sub-genre exploded a few years ago--dragon shifters, bear shifters, dinosaur shifters--I was somewhat bemused. No one ever seems to get the whole thing about how an average sized woman can't transform into a cat without losing some mass in there somewhere.

I'm really curious to know what writers will come up with. And meanwhile--thank you Goodreads--there's this list of nearly 50 books featuring gargoyles in urban fantasy and paranormal romance.