Noir at the Bar

Lady Georgia Brunel, widowed a year, has been looking forward to her holiday in the Duchy of Venice with her companion, Millicent Brunel. The clockwork city’s annual art exhibition is in full swing, and old friends and new acquaintances make for an exciting social whirl. The married Sir Francis Thorne would pursue her if he dared. Several members of the nobility, including those with connections to Lord and Lady Dunsmuir, make entertaining companions. And Georgia will never admit that Dustin Seacombe, the disheveled and irritating Texican Ranger who steps on one’s gown and will not confide his business in Venice, is the most interesting of all.And then early one morning, the body of Sir Francis washes up on the water stairs at the Brunel villa. An empty gondola floats nearby. Many assume it is an accident. The Duchy police assume a lover’s quarrel, with Georgia as their suspect. For there are powerful factions in the city who want this case solved and submerged as soon as possible. Georgia and Millie must act quickly to clear her name and discover the real murderer, before Georgia finds herself dancing with death instead.The Clockwork City is the first novel in the Lady Georgia Brunel Mysteries set in the Magnificent Devices steampunk world. Though the books can be read as standalones, there are threads of love and family running through them all. No strong language, just a very proper kiss or two and a satisfying solution. Enjoy! The Clockwork City: A steampunk adventure mystery (Lady Georgia Brunel Mysteries Book 1) - Kindle edition by Adina, Shelley. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Marco Carocari Reads his short story from the 2023 Saints & Sinners Anthology

Shamus Award Finalist for Best First PI novel; Winner of Two Claymore Awards from Killer Nashville, including Best ComedyA recovering addict and former child star, Jimmy Cooper gets a second shot at fame as a “famous” private detective in Los Angeles.After cratering his career with booze, pills and public humiliations, Jimmy has started over, working at his Mom’s law firm as the in-house detective, putting his uncanny ability to spot liars to good use. Then, much to his and his mother’s surprise, Jimmy is famous once again after a case ends in a high speed chase viewed by thousands.With the public looking on, his next case tests his abilities and his mother’s patience. Alicia Crowley, a young heiress, believes her uncle plans to kill her so she won’t collect her inheritance and wants Jimmy to prove it. When the uncle turns up dead, she becomes suspect numero uno. Believing she’s innocent, he investigates but begins to doubt his own instincts as he learns more about his client.Will Jimmy solve the case and prove his mom wrong about him or just f@!k it all up?Big Fat F@!k-up: A Jimmy Cooper Mystery (Jimmy Cooper Mysteries Book 1) - Kindle edition by Allan, Lawrence. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Shamus Award Finalist for Best First PI novel; Winner of Two Claymore Awards from Killer Nashville, including Best ComedyA recovering addict and former child star, Jimmy Cooper gets a second shot at fame as a “famous” private detective in Los Angeles.After cratering his career with booze, pills and public humiliations, Jimmy has started over, working at his Mom’s law firm as the in-house detective, putting his uncanny ability to spot liars to good use. Then, much to his and his mother’s surprise, Jimmy is famous once again after a case ends in a high speed chase viewed by thousands.With the public looking on, his next case tests his abilities and his mother’s patience. Alicia Crowley, a young heiress, believes her uncle plans to kill her so she won’t collect her inheritance and wants Jimmy to prove it. When the uncle turns up dead, she becomes suspect numero uno. Believing she’s innocent, he investigates but begins to doubt his own instincts as he learns more about his client.Will Jimmy solve the case and prove his mom wrong about him or just f@!k it all up?Big Fat F@!k-up: A Jimmy Cooper Mystery (Jimmy Cooper Mysteries Book 1) - Kindle edition by Allan, Lawrence. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

“Hamilton has never been better.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) When a new security gig turns into a setup, expert thief Van Shaw finds himself the prey in a cross-country pursuit—in this electrifying sixth novel in Glen Erik Hamilton’s pulse-pounding and emotionally resonant thriller series. Van Shaw is hired to evaluate the safeguards for the art collection of eccentric business magnate Sebastien Rohner. Then Rohner reveals to Van the real reason he’s been recruited: to prevent another professional burglar from stealing the art. Rohner wants to set a thief to catch a thief.While questioning the bizarre nature of the job, Van accepts the lucrative offer and arrives at the island estate during an international summit that Rohner is hosting. Shortly after beginning his surveillance of Rohner’s highly secure gallery wing, Van stumbles across the murdered body of one of the honored guests along the rocky shore. Wary of Rohner’s true intentions, Van knows the homicide detectives on the case—and perhaps Rohner as well—think he’s the prime suspect and will turn his life upside down in their search for proof.Van begins to hunt for the killer himself, but scrutiny only digs his hole deeper, as one of Rohner’s own executives is then killed and the Seattle police find concrete evidence placing Van at the scene. With no other options, he goes on the run, alone and unaided. He’s hunted by the cops, the enraged Rohner, and a pair of psychopathic hitmen who chase Van from one coast to the next. To clear his name, Van Shaw will have to uncover the hidden motive of corporate espionage at a global level, even with a band of killers on his tail who are determined to add Van to their growing list of victims.Amazon.com: Island of Thieves: A Novel (Van Shaw, 6): 9780062978554: Hamilton, Glen Erik: Books

“I was ten years old when I found a murder weapon…it had killed ‘The Girl with the Opal Fingers’…”Welsh Canadian professor of criminal psychology Cait Morgan, and her retired-cop husband Bud Anderson, are visiting Cait’s sister, Siân, and brother-in-law, Todd, in Australia. They’re enjoying the bustling delights of Sydney, and looking forward to a few quiet days in the famed Blue Mountains.However, soon after it’s revealed that Todd once worked closely with a man convicted of a brutal slaying, the decades-old murder casts a threatening shadow over the foursome. Cait and Bud must discover the truth behind that case, as well as understanding the complex reasons for an ever-growing number of deaths they fear might be associated with it, before tragedy can engulf Cait’s family.Packed with local color, and quirky, memorable characters, this thirteenth book in the series is certainly unlucky for some. Will it prove to be the same for Cait and Bud? The Corpse with the Opal Fingers (The Cait Morgan Mysteries Book 13) - Kindle edition by Ace, Cathy. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Authors reading tonight are James F.D. Hannah - They Shall Take up Serpents, Joe Clifford - Say My Name, and Rob Osler - Cirque Du Slay!Hosts are Alan Warren, Joe Goldberg, and John Copenhaver.

Tonight's authors reading;Gary Phillips - Unvarnished - The Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp Collection - Kindle edition by Phillips, Gary. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.Gerald Elias - Murder on Vacation - Amazon.com: Gerald Elias: books, biography, latest updateJames L'Etoile - Face of Greed - Amazon.com: Face of Greed (A Detective Emily Hunter Mystery): 9781608095872: L'Etoile, James: Books

Gary Phillips will be reading from his Novel - The Unvarnished!Award-winning author, screenwriter, and editor Gary Phillips gathers his most thrilling, outlandish, and madcap pulp fiction in an 17-story collection that straddles the line between bizarro, science fiction, noir, and superhero classics.Aztec vampires, astral projecting killers, oxygen stealing bombs, undercover space rangers, aliens occupying Los Angeles, right wing specters haunting the ’hood, masked vigilantes, and mad scientists in their underground lairs plotting world domination populate the stories in this rip-snorting collection. In these pages grindhouse melds with blaxploitation along with strong doses of B movie hardcore drive-in fare.Phillips, editor of the Anthony Award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir, and author of One-Shot Harry and Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem, said this about pulp. “The most common definition of pulp is it’s fast-paced, a story containing out there characters and a wild plot. There is that. But certainly, as we’ve now arrived at the era of retro-pulp, these stories have elements of characterization: not just action, but a glimpse behind the steely eyes of these doers of incredible deeds.” As an added bonus, Phillips resurrects Phantasmo, a Golden Age comics character created by Black artist-writer E.C. Stoner in an all-new outing of ethereal doings, including 4 original illustrations by cover artist Adam Shaw.The Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp Collection - Kindle edition by Phillips, Gary. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.