Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

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Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.  So this was really good. I like a good retelling and Craig does a great job with “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” by the Brothers Grimm. We follow the main character Annaleigh who is intent on figuring out if her older sister was murdered. From there we have Craig work in Gothic elements as well as some pretty dark horror elements as well. I loved the world building and would […]

Normandy Gold by Megan Abbott & Alison Gaylin

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Read as part of CBR11 Bingo: Illustrated I love 70s moves. I love conspiracies. I love Megan Abbott’s work. Mix it all together and you’re probably going to make something I’ll love. That’s definitely the case here. I collect Hard Case Crime novels as a hobby. I decided not to do this when they expanded to graphic novels but I admire the talent they got to do them. Abbott on this one and Crista Faust, another favorite, on one that I will have to check […]

https://cannonballread.com/2019/08/normandy-gold-jake/

Detective of the People

The Day of the Owl by Leonardo Scascia

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There are plenty of crime novels at home and abroad that function as social critiques for their nation/state/metropolitan setting. Crime fiction is a good stalking horse for social commentary, because much of what passes for social commentary in crime fiction focuses on injustice real or perceived: racism, gender and economic inequality, urban decay, social despair, etc. Some books are better than others at doing this. All could take a lesson from Leonardo Sciascia’s The Day of the Owl. Less a murder mystery and more an examination […]

Jack the Stripper

Bad Penny Blues by Cathi Unsworth

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Billed by no less than bestselling author David Peace as the English answer to The Black Dahlia, Bad Penny Blues has a lot to live up to. For the most part, it met the hype. There are two concurrent stories going on here, both of which brush against each other in the setting of Swinging 60s London. One is a rising star detective who is trying to figure out what’s behind the brutal murders of random women, most of the prostitutes. The other is an up-and-coming clothing designer […]

“The particular power of the whodunnit” multiplied by 2

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

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CBR11bingo: Cannonballer Says Not long ago I announced that I had “discovered” Anthony Horowitz. What I failed to mention is that what first put him on my radar was a review by badkittyuno of the sensational meta-mystery Magpie Murders. At the time, I noted, “This sounds right up my alley!” and yes, indeed, it was. This is the fourth novel by Horowitz that I’ve read, yet somehow he continues to exceed my expectations. Magpie Murders begins with Susan Ryeland, Head of Fiction at Cloverleaf Books, sitting […]

Hawaii Five Whoa

Repo Shark by Cody Goodfellow

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I thought I had given up on that kind of testosterone-driven crime thriller featuring a drug-addled antihero and a thin plot. This was my go-to in the 90s until my tastes evolved. But Repo Shark, which I culled from a list of unusual crime novels from the indisposable crimereads.com, proved me wrong. And it’s yet another reminder that good writing can paper over a multitude of sins. The plot is straightforward: guy goes to Hawaii to repossess a motorcycle, things aren’t what they seem, hijinks ensue. […]



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