Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Twofer Her

Dogtown by Mercedes Lambert

Soultown by Mercedes Lambert

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A year-and-a-half ago, I was at Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, aka my favorite place in the world. I was in a mood to read some LA fiction. The problem is, I have an extensive knowledge of writers who set their books in Los Angeles so I needed help. And this is why we need bookstores. Of the recommendations I got, these lost classics were one. A human recommended them to me. Not a computer. Not a publisher-backed listicle. A human being. Two excellent dives in […]

April 2024 Leftovers

X = : Poems by Stephen Berg

Charcoal Joe by Walter Mosley

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh

The Hurricane Blonde by Halley Sutton

Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais

Watch It Burn by Kristen Bird

Sleep With Strangers by Dolores Hitchens

The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn by Josh Young

One of Us Is Wrong by Sam Holt

The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker

The Second Murderer by Denise Mina

Blackmailer by George Axelrod

The Darkest Glare: A Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles by Chip Jacobs

Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith

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Happy April, y’all! X = : Poems**** This is why library book bingos are necessary. I only checked this one out because I needed to read a book of poems and I wanted to check the nettlesome “X” off the A-Z reading list. A convoluted reason to begin with and this wasn’t even the book I thought I was getting! I thought I’d get a different X by a different author. I’m glad I got this one. Some of these really spoke to me, including […]

Story ARC

Death Comes Too Late by Charles Ardai

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I received an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.  I love Hard Case Crime novels. I do not always love short story collections. Short stories are fine for what they are: brief and occasionally visceral peaks into the window of whatever context they are examining. I prefer a long, drawn out tale to sink my teeth into, but I do appreciate those who can move an entertain with a limited scope. Given that the best noirs rely on sparseness, […]

Hello, Old Friend

In the Midst of Death by Lawrence Block

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And so I come full circle with the Matthew Scudder series, for though my re-read will go into 2025 (if I’m fortunate to live that long), this was the first one I read, almost 15 years ago. It didn’t start me down the path. Like my impressions with the first two, I found it derivative. Alcoholic PI, knight errant ex-cop, dirty New York, women killed, etc. But on re-reads, I see what Block was doing. I’m not sure he intended to set up a series; […]

The perfect mix of war and noir

Five Decembers by James Kestrel

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Five Decembers by James Kestrel won the 2022 Edgar Award for best novel. It is a solid murder mystery that involves a classic noir detective story paired with international intrigue and  the Pacific Theater in WWII. Main character Joe McGrady is army brat who went to college and later served in the army before settling in Hawaii and becoming a detective in the Honolulu Police Department. His boss, Capt. Beamer, is a chain-smoking benzedrine-inhaling hard nose who hates Joe and makes it clear that he […]

Truth Killzzz

What Meets the Eye: A Mystery by Alex Kenna

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My goodness, what a read! If you like modern mysteries, seedy underbellies, art weirdies, or flawed people trying to do the right thing in an ambiguous world, this is yer book! Or audiobook! Or papyrus – however you enjoy books, try this one. Alex Kenna went to art school and law school and was a prosecutor; therefore, she is the perfect person to write a mystery set in the L.A. art world about an ex-cop trying to navigate the legal system. Kate Myles was a […]



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