BOOK TRAILER: DEATH CLOUD

DEATH CLOUD

Andrew Lane

HISTORY OF THE MYSTERY 1920s

HISTORY OF THE MYSTERY - 1920s 

BLACK MASK - Mystery Reviews

    Hard-boiled fiction evolved in the 1920s in popular "pulp" magazines with tough talking detectives, who solved tough crimes. These detectives were hard-edged and lived by strict codes of honor.

    The most famous pulp magazine was the Black Mask. It started out publishing adventure stories, but eventually only published detective fiction. Its editor, Joseph Thompson Shaw, wanted stories that reflected the reality of life in America in the twenties. It came to symbolize the hard-boiled school of writing. Stories about Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe made frequent appearances.

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BOOK REVIEW: THE FENWAY FOUL-UP

The Fenway Foul-up - mystery book review

THE FENWAY FOUL-UP

David A. Kelly

A Stepping Stone Book

2011

Available: paperback, Kindle

This is the first book in the chapter book Ballpark Mystery series.

Cousins, Kate and Mike, have tickets to the Red Sox game at Fenway Park because Kate's mom is a sports writer covering the game. Plus they have an All Access passes to the ballpark. They arrive early to watch the batting practice before the game. It's totally exciting. Then the lucky bat of star slugger Big D is stolen and the two cousins set out to find it. Without his lucky bat, Big D can't seem to hit a thing and the team is doomed to lose. It’s a real who-done-it mystery with lots of clues, suspects, and red herrings. Sprinkled in the tale are a lot of fun facts about Fenway Park.

This is a great chapter book mystery. It flows and the reader will easily be pulled along with Kate and Mike's inestigation. Baseball fans especially will love this series.

TARGET AUDIENCE: grades 4-6

MYSTERY / SUSPENCE: well plotted with a surprise or two

KID APPEAL: A home run


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THE MISSING MUMMY