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Tokyo Express by Seichō Matsumoto
Tokyo Express presents its readers with an intriguing set-up that is somewhat let-down by the story giving away too much too soon. The premise made me think that this would be a whodunnit with some noir undertones, but it soon became apparent that the mystery driving the narrative was more of the whydunnit variety. There…
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The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
Sherlock Holmes with a space opera twist…it works! An entertaining novella! This is one of the most refreshing Sherlock Holmes-inspired tales. The space opera setting was such fun! The Watnsonesque character here is The Shadow’s Child, a transport ship that lost its crew in a traumatic experience and now earns a living by brewing drugs…
3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, adventure, Aliette de Bodard, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DETECTIVE, female authors, French American Vietnamese author, futuristic, LGBTQ+ Author, light reads, MYSTERY, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2018, read in 2022, RETELLINGS, SCI-FI, sherlockiana, SPACE, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, The Tea Master and the Detective, Vietnamese inspired setting -
Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan
Midnight at Malabar House presents its readers with a fairly promising start to a new sleuthing series. As you may or may not know I am a big fan of whodunnits and golden detective fiction and ever since finishing Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries I have been on the lookout for a historical mystery with a…
1940s, 1950s, 20th century, 3.25 stars, 3rd pov, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, colonialism, CRIME, DETECTIVE, HISTORICAL FICTION, India, male authors, Midnight at Malabar House, MURDER, My reviews, MYSTERY, police investigation, published in 2020, read in 2022, reading, Vaseem Khan, whodunnit -
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
that sex scene was 💀 Having enjoyed two of Mosley’s latest novels (Trouble Is What I Do and Blood Grove) I was looking forward to delving into his earlier work. Devil in a Blue Dress is the first book in his Easy Rawlins series and, while it has many of Mosley’s best traits, overall it…
1940s, 1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, CRIME, DETECTIVE, Devil in a Blue Dress, Easy Rawlins, HISTORICAL FICTION, los angeles, male authors, missing persons, missing women, My reviews, MYSTERY, Noir, private investigator, published in 1990, RACE, read in 2021, reading, THRILLER, Walter Mosley -
The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
Originally published in 1946 The Honjin Murders is a locked-room murder mystery. Throughout the course of the novel, the author pays homage to Golden Age detective novels, by alluding directly to authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie and their works and by being quite self-aware when it comes to the conventions that…
1930S, 2 STARS, Adult, aristocracy, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, CRIME, DETECTIVE, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), drama, golden age detective fiction, heavy on telling, HISTORICAL FICTION, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, locked-room mystery, male authors, manor/big house, My reviews, MYSTERY, published in 1946, read in 2021, reading, TRANSLATED FICTION, wedding drama, whodunnit -
The Witch’s Hand by Nathan Page
The main reason why I read The Witch’s Hand was Maggie Stiefvater’s 5-star review for it (what can I say, I trust in Stiefvater). And I’m so glad I did! Way back when I had an ahem Scooby-Doo phase (not only did I watch 20+ Scooby-Doo animated films but I also ended up devouring the…
1960s, 4 STARS, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, canadian artist, canadian author, cliques, DETECTIVE, Drew Shannon, FANTASY, gay, ghosts/spirits, Graphic Novels, HISTORICAL FICTION, lgbtq+, light reads, MAGIC, male artists, male authors, MYSTERY, Nathan Page, New England, occult, PARANORMAL, published in 2020, read in 2021, SMALL TOWN, summer reads, SUPERNATURAL, The Witch's Hand, twins, uplifting reads, WITCHES, YOUNG ADULT -
Breach of Peace by Daniel B. Greene
I am always hesitant to read books by youtubers or other public figures I like as alas they tend to disappoint (and then I kind of guilty for not liking their stuff). Luckily, Daniel Green’s debut is promising indeed. Set over the course of one day, Breach of Peace begins with one of our main…
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Blood Grove by Walter Mosley
“Life is one long side street with about a million crossroads, Sorry used to tell me when I was a boy. Every hour, sometimes every minute, you got to make the choice which way to go. Some of them turns don’t matter but don’t let that fool ya. The minute you start to think that…
1960s, 1st pov, 20th century, 4 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, CRIME, DETECTIVE, HARD-BOILED, HISTORICAL FICTION, los angeles, male authors, MYSTERY, Noir, place as character, private investigator, prostitution, published in 2021, read in 2021, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, terrific prose, THRILLER, war related ptsd -
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman
The Neil Gaiman Reader showcases Gaiman’s range as an author. Gaiman moves between genres and tones like no other. From funny fairy-talesque stories to more ambiguous narratives with dystopian or horror elements. While I have read most of his novels and a few of his novellas I hadn’t really ‘sunk’ my teeth in his short…
1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, Adult, adventure, America, American Gods, angels, books about writers, British author, curses, DEMONS, DETECTIVE, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, england, FAIRY TALES, FAIRYLAND, FANTASY, favourite authors, film industry, FOLKLORE, gods, great storytelling, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, HUMOR, lgbtq+ side, m/m side, male authors, morality, myths, Neil Gaiman, PARANORMAL, published in 2020, RETELLINGS, SCI-FI, short stories, SPECULATIVE FICTION, story within a story, Storytelling, The Neil Gaiman Reader, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction, URBAN FANTASY, what ifs -
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark
This is the third novella I’ve read by P. Djèlí Clark and once again I find myself loving his building but not his story or characters. This novella is set in an alternate 1912 Cairo where djinns and angels are the norm. world happens to be the home to djinns Egypt, . In an alternate…
1910s, 20th century, 3rd pov, A Dead Djinn, Adult, adventure, alternate history, AMERICAN AUTHOR, American History, Black & Black heritage authors, Cairo, DETECTIVE, Djinn, egypt, FANTASY, HISTORICAL FICTION, lgbtq+, male authors, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, P. Djèlí Clark, published in 2016, queer, read in 2020, SPECULATIVE FICTION, STEAMPUNK, URBAN FANTASY
luce [is reading] 