Announcing MBCC 29: When a Sure Thing Fails

 

Today is launch day for When a Sure Thing Fails by James R. Callan, Book 29 in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series.

One could say that Magnolia Bluff is the Bermuda Triangle of Texas. You know, strange things happen to not only the people who live there, but those who visit as well.

Take Eula Moore. She’s visiting the quaint little town and what happens? She’s kidnapped on her very first day she steps foot into town. Now what is the likelihood of that happening to someone visiting anywhere but Magnolia Bluff?

Here’s what Mr. Callan has to say about his latest addition to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles:

Seventy-eight-year-old Eula Moore is kidnapped on the first day of her vacation in the Texas Hill Country town of Magnolia Bluff. Knocked out by ether, she is transported to a cabin deep in the forest.

Eula is determined to escape, yet realizes she is miles from any town. But escape she does, and when she reports the kidnapping to the police, the detective notes she was not hurt, she did escape, and no ransom was paid. He says, “No harm; no foul.

Incensed by this, Eula decides to find the kidnappers and see justice prevail. She has only the first names of the kidnappers and doesn’t know where she was imprisoned for four days. With the aid of her granddaughter, Crystal, they track down the kidnappers.

But things are not as simple as the kidnapping. Now, Eula and Crystal may have to deal with Four Fingers, a vicious, dangerous man, wanted for multiple murders and other crimes.

Eula has a choice. She can easily walk away and leave all this behind. But can strong-willed Eula, even at age seventy-eight, leave things unresolved? Actually, that’s not in her DNA.

One person in my writer’s group said: “Eula is my kind of grandma — locked and loaded.”

Mr. Callan knows how to deliver spills and thrills in his mysteries. He’s the author of the popular Father Frank series and of You Won’t Know How… Or When, the 4th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles.

I have my copy. Pick yours up on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome and until next time happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

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Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

Review: For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness

 

Richard Schwindt has a knack for creating unique characters.

I’ve read all of his fiction. His works are the epitome of Bradbury’s Dictum: Create your characters, let them do their thing, and there’s your story.

Story flows from the characters. And Richard’s characters are full of story.

In his most recent book, For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness, the 28th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series, he gives us a powerful psychologically driven murder mystery. One in which Dr. Mike Kurelek, professor and psychotherapist at Burnet College, struggles with his anger and desire for justice. Anger that wants to see justice accomplished, but is thwarted by the police and the legal system’s bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy’s operate on correct procedure. And sometimes, and perhaps more than sometimes, that mandate to follow correct procedure gets in the way of achieving justice.

Mike struggles with doing what is “right” and doing what is right. In the end, he makes a choice that is consistent with who he is in order to see that justice is done.

Richard Schwindt follows the standard murder mystery format: a world the is functioning normally, which is then turned on its head by murder, and then restored to order by the sleuth solving the crime.

As Raymond Chandler observed, what differentiates one murder mystery from another is style.

And this is where Richard shines. His characters are cut from the fabric of life. In many ways they are much like us. But their world gets turned upside down by murder.

Richard, who is a social worker and psychotherapist himself, shows us the inner workings of what goes through people’s minds when their world is suddenly shattered through no fault of their own. And what they are willing to do to restore order to their lives.

I am an ardent admirer of Richard Schwindt’s fiction. It has everything to create the most satisfying movies of the mind.

In Dr. Mike Kurelek, he has created a most memorable character. One of the best in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series.

Pick up your copy of For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness today on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome and until next time happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness is Coming Soon

 

We all have our demons, and for Dr. Mike Kurelek anger is one of his.

Richard Schwindt, social worker and therapist, knows a lot about the demons people have, which makes his fiction so very lifelike.

We see ourselves in his characters and that draws us into his books.

I’ve known Richard for quite some time now. He is an amazing author. His fiction is laced with humor, action, suspense, and introspection, presented in an easy to read style.

When the Underground Authors were first being gather together, Richard was an easy suggestion for me to make to the late Caleb Pirtle. And Caleb, already familiar with Richard’s work, immediately sent an invite.

Richard’s main contribution to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles is Dr. Mike Kurelek. Through him we get to see the inner workings of Burnet College and Burnet Medical Center.

Kurelek is a professor and a practicing therapist. He is also very good with a bow and arrow.

The good doctor professor made his first appearance in The Shine from a Girl in the Lake. He returned in Men Lying Dead in a Field. 

And now we have his third appearance in For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness. Here is a teaser to whet your appetite:

When clinical psychologist Dr. Michael Kurelek’s elderly best friend is savagely beaten in a home invasion, rage pushes him to the limits of his emotional control.

After nearly choking a woman abuser to death in O’Gara’s bar, he turns his attention back to the new students at Burnet College, and his pregnant wife, Sue. 

But his anger – and the sociopathic attackers – don’t go away. 

Locked out of the investigation by the Magnolia Bluff police department; Mike goes rogue, enlisting the help of friends, family, and two troubled young women with their own reason for vengeance.

For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness is on pre-order right now for 99¢. The book goes live September 20, 2024. I’ve ordered my copy. Why don’t you order yours?

I’ll be back with a review sometime after the 20th.

In the meantime, check out Richard’s website to see all of his books and learn more about him.

Comments are always welcome and until next time happy reading!

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

Review: Catch a Tiger by the Toe

 

I make no bones about it: I’m a Joe Congel fan.

I like reading stories and he writes good stories I want to read.

Catch a Tiger by the Toe is his latest offering.

It’s a suspense-filled murder mystery that satisfies on all levels.

Retired  NYC cop Brandon Turner wants a quiet life. A life filled with the joy of his dog, his lady-love, mentoring her son, and maybe a little fishing.

However, he once again finds himself entangled in a murder investigation where it seems he’s the only one with the skill set necessary to catch the killer. A nasty person bent on killing children in a catch-me-if-you-can game with the police.

For me, characters are the story. After all, life is about people. People and what they do or don’t do. And fiction is nothing more or less than a stylized look at people and their lives.

Congel gives us real people. Its as though a giant scooped up a great big handful of the world and put it under a dome for us to observe. That’s what it’s like reading one of his books.

One indicator I go by to tell me if the writer is sensitive to his surroundings and conveys them realistically is dialogue.

Does the writer get dialogue right? Does he have an ear for how people actually speak?

If the answer is yes, then the book will be enjoyable. If the answer is no, well, I don’t go on reading. The writer isn’t listening to the world. And if he isn’t listening does he have anything for me? Probably not.

Congel listens. He hears the world around him. His characters’s dialogue tells me so. They interact with real life and so what he has to tell me by means of his story will be real too.

If you already know Joe Congel, you know what I’m talking about.

If you don’t know his voice, then you are in for a wonderful treat. And Catch a Tiger by the Toe (Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles, Book 26) is an excellent place to begin.

Only on Amazon, and only 99¢ for a very short time. Get your copy today!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!