An Interview with Robert J. Randisi from August 2008   Robert J. Randisi passed away earlier this week. He was born on August 24, 1951, in Brooklyn… Read More

Dark Western Duality: The Magpie Coffin & Blood Meridian by Mike Baker   I read The Magpie Coffin and Blood Meridian simultaneously, though that  Read More

  I love September. The beginning of autumn, the cooling temps, and the first rush of green leaves turning gold, copper, and crimson. A marvelous month that is second only… Read More

“Brothers” By Ed Gorman& Richard Chizmar Short, Scary Tales, 2015   “Brothers”â&e… Read More

from ED GORMAN’S Desk John Brunnerfrom Dec. 16, 2006 One of the real pleasures of my teenage years was reading the space operas of John Brunner, which m… Read More

The Fittest& Other Storiesby Katherine MacLean A 3 Play Book, 2024 Introduction The critic and author, Damon Knight wrote, “As a science fiction writer… Read More

I’ve been holding onto this bit of news for so long, three months and a day for anyone counting, that it feels (almost) sacrilegious to post about it now. But I’ve never been… Read More

While August’s temps were too hot, the days were noticeably shorter than those at summer’s height and a few even showed the promise of autumn. Heck, here and there leaves… Read More

You Think You Know Westerns— A Double Western Review by Mike Baker  Stay Away, Joe by Dan Cushman Popular Library, 1953 In Stay Away, Joe (1953) by Dan… Read More

Safe Enoughand Other Storiesby Lee Child Mysterious Press, 2024 Lee Child is best known as the creator of Jack Reacher, which makes sense because estimates place the numbe… Read More

“I Don’t Want to Look Macho,” by Arnold Hano, appeared in the Dec. 27, 1980, issue of TV Guide. The series premiered on Dec. 11, 1980 on CBS and so this interview hi… Read More

An Honorable Assassinby Steve Hamilton Blackstone, 2024 Steve Hamilton is best known for his series featuring former Detroit cop turned reluctant Upper Peninsula private e… Read More

Long Haulby Frank Figliuzzi Mariner Books, 2024 I don’t review much non-fiction here, or anywhere else, but a slim true crime, Long Haul by a former FBI Assistant Di… Read More

from ED GORMAN’S Desk Doubleday Crime Clubfrom Nov. 13, 2005   I’m glad Ellen Nehr lived long enough to see her enormous volume about the Doub… Read More

Madman on a Drumby David HousewrightMinotaur Books, 2008 David Housewright’s fifth Rushmore McKenzie mystery, Madman on a Drum, is a hardboiled tour-de-force private ey… Read More

July always plays better on paper than in the real world. It is too hot, the days are too damn long, and I never get as much reading done as I would like. This July was no different t… Read More

Cream of the Crop:Best Mystery & Suspense Storiesby Bill Pronzini Stark House, 2024 Cream of the Crop: Best Mystery & Suspense Stories of Bill Pronzini is the stor… Read More

Pistol Beltby Dean Owen Monarch Books, 1961   reviewed by Mike Baker Hazard Coyle was ending the American Civil War as poor as he’d started it. Hangin… Read More

“Death and the Dancing Shadows”by James Reasoner in The Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction, 1987 “Death and the Dancing Shadows”&mdash… Read More

Ed Gorman’s Fan Letter to Science Fiction Quarterly published in the Nov. 1956 issue________________________ The mystery writer and all-around good guy Ed Gorman (1941 &n… Read More

Split Imageby Ron Faust Forge, 1997 Split Image, which is Ron Faust’s tenth published novel, is best read cold and this review is loaded with spoilers. Read ahe… Read More

A little piece about Stephen Marlowe for…Alternatives: Science Fiction Storiesby Stephen Marlowe A 3 PLAY Book Introduction Stephen Marlowe—born as Milton… Read More

Robak’s Witchby Joe L. Hensley St. Martin’s Press, 1997 In the Spring of 1992, while perusing the stacks at Waldenbooks, I found a mass market paperback tagged… Read More

from ED GORMAN’S Desk Ross Macdonald from Aug. 1, 2007   The first Ross Macdonald novel I ever read was The Way Some People Die. He was John Ross Mac… Read More

“Bertie’s Mom”by Jeremiah Healy Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Sep. 1989   “Bertie’s Mom”—which by my count is Jeremiah… Read More

My reading numbers were better in June than in May; although my eyes whined all month like a 13-year-old after being asked to set the dinner table. I read six books—two story an… Read More

A little something I wrote for the William Campbell Gault collection… Mixology:Science Fiction Stories3 Play, 2024     Introduction   William Cam… Read More

Morgan’s Revenge by Matt Weston Paperback Library, 1971 reviewed by Mike Baker Morgan the Drifter is an eye patch wearing, former Harvard graduate and Virginia l… Read More

Three Strikes—You’re Dead! edited by Donna Andrews,Barb Goffman & Marcia Talley Wildside Press, 2024 Three Strikes—You’re Dead! is an enjoyable… Read More

from ED GORMAN’S Desk Erle Stanley Gardner from Dec. 25, 2006 I’ve never been able to figure out why Raymond Chandler felt he owed such a literary… Read More

If only I’d seen THIS on my parents’ 19” Magnavox (with the broken power knob) Lucan turned turned out to be the pilot for a 12-episode series on AB… Read More

The Stark House Anthologyedited by Rick Ollerman& Gregory Shepard Stark House, 2024 The Stark House Anthology, edited by Rick Ollerman and Gregory Shepard, celebrates… Read More

Reading was a struggle in May. I read four books and two short stories: three mystery novels and a terrific single author story collection, Mixology: Science Fiction Stories, by Willi… Read More

Merkabah Rider:High Planes Drifterby Edward M. Erdelac 2018 reviewed by Mike Baker We don’t know Merkabah Rider’s real name because knowing a person’s… Read More

Now Available! My latest book, Casinos, Motels, Gators, which is part of 3 Play’s lineup of story collections, is available now. CMG is a collection of four crime s… Read More

from ED GORMAN’S Desk Fredric Brown from Nov. 1, 2008 Yes, I had an epiphany last night. Honest. I was re-reading one of my favorite Fredric Brown nove… Read More

Available For Pre-Order Casinos, Motels, Gatorsby Ben Boulden 3 Play, 2024 Big news at Maison Boulden. Casinos, Motels, Gators, which is a collection of four of m… Read More

Journeyby Catherine Arnold (Harrison Arnston?) iUniverse, 2003 In the early-1990s my parents sprang for a subscription to the bulletin board service Prodigy. Prodigy was… Read More

This profile of Noah Beery Jr., which appeared in the June 24, 1979 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune, is a pleasure to read. I love that Beery and his family lived in an old mot… Read More

“Lynching in Mixville”by L. J. Washburn Carroll & Graf, 1997 “Lynching in Mixville”—which was originally published in Lethal Ladies, edit… Read More

The Captiveas by Carter Travis Young (Louis Charbonneau) Manor Books reviewed by Mike Baker Louis Charbonneau wrote one of my favorite action novels Night of Violence… Read More

My April 2024 reading was a more varied affair than last month’s. I read seven books—every one a novel or a story collection with not a whiff of non-fiction anywhere in th… Read More

 Mrs. Homicide / Naked Fury / Murder on the Sideby Day KeeneStark House Press, 2024 Stark House’s latest Day Keene compilation is available in bookstores everywhere. It is a good… Read More

Flamingo Roadby Sasscer HillMinotaur Books, 2017 Flamingo Road, Sasscer Hill’s first (of two) featuring former Baltimore PD officer Fia McKee, is a satisfying by-the-numbers detecti… Read More

  Introduction to Heretic: Storiesby Philip José Farmer The critic Leslie Fiedler called Philip José Farmer “the greatest science fiction writer ever”… Read More

from ED GORMAN’S Desk City That Never Sleeps from Nov. 16, 2009 directed by JOHN H. AUER / written by STEVE FISHER / starring: GIG YOUNG, MALA POWERS, WILLIAM TALMAN, E… Read More

Pretty Girl Goneby David HousewrightMinotaur Books, 2006 Pretty Girl Gone, David Housewright’s entertaining third Rushmore McKenzie mystery, finds McKenzie doing a favor for his o… Read More

This nice profile of Roger E. Mosley (1938 – 2022) appeared in the June 5, 1983, issue of the Salt Lake Tribune. By every account I have read—and this piece contin… Read More

  The Summonsby Peter LoveseySoho Crime, 2004   Peter Lovesey’s third Peter Diamond detective novel, The Summons—originally published in 1995 by Mysterious Press&mda… Read More

Over the past few years I abandoned using notebooks to keep track of the books I read in favor of Goodreads. A practice that came about out of laziness more than anything else, but this year… Read More