Just finished reading...

 The Reckoning by Kelli Stanley (Severn House, 6 January 2026).

I read this book without knowing much about it, except that it takes place in 1985 in Humboldt County, California.  And that was written by Kelli Stanley.

The story is written in the first person (something that Kelli excels at) from Renata's point of view.  Thus, we know how she's feeling about events as they occur, and how they connect to her motivations and her background.  

We learn in the first chapter that the date is September 20, and that Renata Drake is running from something.  We also learn that she took a Greyhound bus from somewhere to Garberville, California simply because she remembered it from a photo she'd seen as a child.

At first, she's just trying to hide, but it's hard. The situation in Humboldt County at the time was akin to Prohibition earlier in the century, (except the substance was cannabis instead of alcohol) so there was a large law enforcement presence.

Yes, this book is fiction, but Garberville and its environs are real. Searching for information and photos of the area, I found that while much has changed in almost 41 years, some places look eerily similar to they way Renata describes them.  

Open-hearted and independent, Renata is at the same time vulnerable.  As a librarian, one of the things I liked most about her was her love of books and bookish people. 

Not a traditional thriller, but more of a historical mystery, this is one of those books that I wanted to read as fast as possible to find out what happened, but also slowly to savor the prose.  I think hope I managed both.

The Reckoning is the first 2026 [book] publication that I've read.  Even so, I'm certain that it will be on my "favorites" list at the end of the year.

If you read it and enjoy it, do yourself a favor and read Ms. Stanley's backlist as well.

Kelli and me at Bouchercon 2024

Kelli Stanley is the award-winning author of historical crime fiction, both novels and short stories.  

She also founded the Anthony award-winning non-profit publisher, Nasty Woman Press. Kelli earned a Master's Degree in Classics (and a double BA in Classics and Art History), loves jazz, old movies, battered fedoras, Art Deco and speakeasies. Like Renata, Ms. Stanley is also a fan of books and bookish people.

She credits Raymond Chandler, Ernest Hemingway, Cornell Woolrich, Dashiell Hammett and Thomas Hardy as some of her major influences.

Cross-posted to my Substack.

Cozy Monday

By Book or By Crook (Lighthouse Library mystery #1) by Eva Gates (Obsidian mass market paperback, 3 February 2015).

As a librarian by nature as well as profession, I love books about libraries and librarians.  If the setting happens to be unique, so much the better.

By Book or By Crook fits all the above criteria.  The protagonist, Lucy Richardson, has left her job as an academic librarian at Harvard University to escape from the weight of her family's disappointment when she refused a marriage proposal from the man she'd been expected to marry almost since she was born.   Lucy runs to Bodie Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to her Aunt Ellen and Uncle Amos, with whom she'd spent summers when she was growing up.

Lucy lands a job and a small apartment at the Bodie Island Library, which happens to be situated in a lighthouse.  She meets the library board and various other local VIPs at a viewing party planned by Bertie James, the chief librarian, who has scored the loan of some valuable Jane Austen first editions.  

Lucy stumbles into an incident almost immediately when she meets the Mrs. Uppiton, the estranged -- and very tipsy -- wife of the library board chairman.  The evening spirals into disaster when Mr. Uppiton is discovered lying on the floor in a closed area of the library,  in a puddle of blood.  

But when Bertie is arrested for murder, Lucy has no choice but to prove the innocence of her mentor.

I would like to say that the eccentricities of small-town residents are exaggerated in this story, but I know from experience that they are not. And despite not being somewhat familiar with the area, Lucy is still a city girl with little knowledge of the aforementioned quirks.

It will be interesting to watch the development of Lucy's relationships, both professional and personal in her new environment.

The publisher has generously offered a copy of By Book or by Crook to one of my readers.  Please comment below before midnight on February 16, including  a VALID EMAIL ADDRESS.  Entries from the US only, please.  

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of the book.

Cozy Monday

This Old Homicide (Fixer-Upper Mystery #2) by Kate Carlisle (Obsidian mass-market paperback, 27 January 2015).

As usual, there's a lot going on in Shannon Hammer's life. Emily, one of her closest friends, has just purchased the old Rawley Mansion and has asked Shannon if her company can renovate it.  As a special favor for her friend, Shannon promises to make it liveable within a few months.

Meanwhile, Shannon is lieutenant to her oldest friend Jane, leader of the town's Festival Committee, which means that they're in the process of organizing the annual Valentine's Day Festival.  

Though in a rush to get to a committee meeting, she stops to check on her elderly next door neighbor, Jesse, whom she hasn't seen in a while. Shannon finds him dead, apparently due to a heart attack, but is surprised to see that his house is a complete mess, as though it's been searched.  

When it's determined that Jesse's death was a homicide, investigator's are at a loss for a motive. Jesse was known for his tall tales, but what if his stories about finding sunken treasure were true?

Shannon's not sure what she thinks, except that she must find out who killed her old friend.

It's great to see a female in a conventionally male profession as the protagonist of a traditional mystery.  Also wonderful is the fact that she has pink tools (so her staff doesn't take them by mistake), a circle of friends of both genders, and strong ties her hometown.  


The publisher has generously offered a copy of This Old Homicide to one of my readers.  Please comment below, including a VALID EMAIL ADDRESS, before midnight on February 9, 2015. Entries from the US only, please.

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of the book.

Welcome guest blogger Jennifer McAndrews!

Jennifer McAndrews

Looking at my Pinterest boards is like looking at a graphic representation of an incomplete sentence. I start a board with one picture, and sometimes the category I’ve assigned stays the same, sometimes the images I collect require an entirely new moniker.

I have a board now called “writing supplies”. It started life as “writing spaces” because the image that inspired me to begin the board was a picture of Jane Austen’s writing table (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jul/12/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview2) - a tiny twelve-sided table that looks barely large enough to hold a potted plant, never mind the entirety of Pride and Prejudice.

For my part, though I have a room in my home designated - upon taking up residence - as my “home office”, I don’t write there. It turned out to be too hot in summer and too cold in winter and too perfect a place to hide gifts and store books - lots and lots of books. That, coupled with the day job, the pets, the kids, meant I learned to write wherever I was , with whatever I could grab. If I wanted to keep working on a story - keep unspooling a tale of friendship, love, murder, adventure - I had to train myself to write in whatever moments and whatever places presented themselves.

Ill-Gotten Panes, the first in a new series featuring stained-glass hobbyist Georgia Kelly and some other fine folk from the little town of Wenwood, NY, was written in such diverse writer’s spaces as: train, plane, hotel room, day-job lunchroom (where, coincidentally, this blog is being written), local library, Panera, and  my living room couch. A lot on the living room couch - lap dog on either side of me and cat waiting for a chance to curl up on the toasty-warm keyboard, with either a Harry Potter movie on the television as the perfect background noise, or headphones firmly in place to drown out anything not Harry Potter (I have no idea why having those movies in the background helps me to work steadily. Magic?)

I think that collection of locations illustrates why I was so taken by the image of the little table Jane Austen wrote at. Not that I would imagine myself equal to her or even worthy of preparing her tea. But the idea that someone of her caliber created such wonderful stories at a tiny table near a doorway - no perfect view, no evocative music, not even a little potpourri - encourages me. Knowing that it is truly possible to create characters, stories, worlds, with nothing more than imagination and the means of capturing it on the page makes me feel like I’m a part of some special writers club.

Of course, I do have to admit that I have frequent bouts of envy when writer pals of mine

share photos of their writer spaces - beautiful desk, copies of their books on their shelves,framed prints of their book covers on the walls. One lucky author I know even keeps fresh flowers on her desk. Another has framed New York Times best seller lists on which her book appears. 

Meanwhile, it’s all I can do to keep the cat from chewing on the laptop power cord or the blind dog from walking across the keyboard while I’m writing. And that’s okay, really. I’ve come to value and love my ability to write anywhere, any time, especially if it means I get to continue exploring the world of cozy mysteries and the gang from Ill-Gotten Panes. And maybe someday I’ll invest in a table the exact dimensions of Jane Austen’s and create masterpieces at it. What? It could happen. That little table would totally fit in my living room.

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Berkley Prime Crime has generously offered a copy of Ill-Gotten Panes to one of my readers. Please comment below before midnight on July 14, 2014. Entries from the US only, please.

Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win.