I really struggled with this short story collection, which is unusual given that its publisher tends to be astonishingly good at anthologies. I wonder if some small part of that was due to how my brains have been practically leaking out my ears as I worked to hit several deadlines this past week (including the …
Tag: Mystery
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/02/daggers-drawn-edited-by-maxim-jakubowski/
Oct 29 2021
Space Case (Moon Base Alpha #1) by Stuart Gibbs
My ten year-old brought this home from his school library and recommended I read it, too! Fortunately, he warned me that he hadn’t actually finished it when I handed it back to him, else I would have likely dropped some major spoilers, but I could tell him that it was a fun read with at …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/29/space-case-moon-base-alpha-1-by-stuart-gibbs/
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/25/the-last-line-by-robert-dugoni/
Sep 23 2021
Gutter Mage by J.S. Kelley
I want to sit J S Kelley down, look into their eyes and assure them that the world desperately needs a Gutter Mage series. Okay, so maybe by “the world” I mean “I” but this book was just so much fantastic fun! Crossing an original fantasy concept with a hardboiled mystery with distinct Western elements, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/23/gutter-mage-by-j-s-kelley/
Sep 08 2021
An Interview with Fran Dorricott, author of The Final Child
Q. First off, congratulations on your second book! How was the experience of writing The Final Child different from writing your debut, After The Eclipse? A. Thank you! Honestly, writing The Final Child was a lot of fun. To me it feels a little grittier, a little slower in terms of tempo, and I liked …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/08/an-interview-with-fran-dorricott-author-of-the-final-child/
Sep 03 2021
Enola Holmes And The Black Barouche (Enola Holmes #7) by Nancy Springer
Who’s ready for a brand new story arc in the Enola Holmes universe? As we swiftly discover in the opening pages of this latest installment of the series, Enola has reconciled with her brothers and is living as an independent Consulting Perditologist in London. However, she’s dismayed that her brothers, famous old Sherlock and Mycroft, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/03/enola-holmes-and-the-black-barouche-enola-holmes-7-by-nancy-springer/
Aug 19 2021
Songbirds by Christy Lefteri
Exceptionally moving novel that spotlights the harms of a practice that most people don’t even like to think about. I can seriously say that in all my years of reading, I’ve encountered maybe one entire other work of fiction that’s addressed this issue with honesty and compassion, Ovidia Yu’s terrific Meddling And Murder. That said, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/08/19/songbirds-by-christy-lefteri/
Aug 03 2021
The Dead And The Dark by Courtney Gould
I was genuinely creeped out by parts of this horror/mystery tale, which is saying a lot because most horror novels don’t scare me at all! Courtney Gould certainly knows how to build tension, even if I wasn’t 100% convinced by the Big Bad-related world-building. The rest of it, tho, is pretty great, especially in its examination …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/08/03/the-dead-and-the-dark-by-courtney-gould/
Jul 01 2021
The Case Of The Lonely One (Bad Machinery #4) by John Allison
Oh gosh, for Mother’s Day, my husband got me the first of John Allison’s new series Wicked Things, featuring a 19 year-old Charlotte Grote. Since I’m still working my way through my backlog of the Bad Machinery comics where she and her friends originally appear, I’ve been keeping that as a reward for when I …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/07/01/the-case-of-the-lonely-one-bad-machinery-4-by-john-allison/
May 27 2021
Still Lives by Maria Hummel
I am a total sucker for mysteries set in the art world, so I was already inclined to love this book even before I was seduced by, first, the unusual-for-the-art-world LA/West Coast setting, then by Maria Hummel’s gorgeous prose. Still Lives follows Maggie Richter, one-time investigative journalist turned PR flack for the prestigious Rocque Museum. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/05/27/still-lives-by-maria-hummel/









