Wow! John Dickson Carr's The Judas Window is a ripping impossible-crime whodunnit filled with bristling suspense and intelligence. It's the best Carr I've read since The Problem of the Green Capsule and my first unquestionable masterpiece of 2021. Believe me, I needed one! The Problem: It's the kind that's keeps you reading deep into the… Continue reading The Judas Window
Because The Plague Court Murders has plenty of enjoyable elements, I'd like to begin with its main flaw, one I consider entirely unnecessary, and one which has recently put me off reading another book. We're talking about the legend...excuse me...THE LEGEND. It works like this. 80 (or 700) years ago, this curse/murder/impossible event happened. Now,… Continue reading The Plague Court Murders
It's been a rough month. Besides contracting Covid and (worse) my mother getting it and going into the hospital, the bad-news Gods performed their usual magic last week and took Jinxy from me. In 2002, both of my cats died, leading me to forever give up on pets of any kind. The pain of saying… Continue reading I’ve just been taking a little break
Some of the best murder mysteries play out like nightmares. There's a narrative point when all the clues, suspects, and blood turn meaningless. I'm thinking of the multiple confessions in Death of Jezebel or the second beautifully presented murder in Whistle Up the Devil. It's a challenge to ground a story in reality and then… Continue reading Death in the House of Rain
I've been very satisfied with my Booksirens review service. It's effective at gathering a wide array of reader-types to get an honest consensus at a very affordable price. The quality of the reviews varies greatly, but they're generally good at summarizing the strengths/weaknesses and describing the genre and style. One of my favorite reviews was… Continue reading Review for Vampire
James Scott Byrnside 