Short Stories
The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform

by David Cranmer, ed.
Beat to a Pulp, June 2014, $6.05

The award for the strangest title goes to The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform, edited by David Cranmer, who explains the book’s origin and purpose in his introduction. The stories are a mixture of crime, noir, and the “new weird.” Terrie Farley Moran’s excellent dark crime story, “Dust to Dust,” is reason enough to buy the book, but all the other stories are fine and strange.

Bill Crider
Teri Duerr
4664
Cranmer, ed.
June 2014
the-lizard-s-ardent-uniform
6.05
Beat to a Pulp

peter-swanson
Peter Swanson on Reading for the Season
Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Naomi Hirahara’s powerful new book, Clark and Division, follows the Ito family in 1944.

naomi-hirahara-on-clark-and-division
Naomi Hirahara on "Clark and Division"
jane-stanton-hitchcock-on-giving-voice-to-great-reads
Jane Stanton Hitchcock on Giving Voice to Great Reads
Thursday, 18 October 2018

"For me, the books I read were the call—the call to adventure, to thinking, to acknowledging other points of view. But to complete the ritual, I needed to respond."

kareem-abdul-jabbar-on-reading-a-call-and-response
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Reading: A Call and Response
Saturday, 16 June 2018

Cynthia RiggsI am surrounded by books. Every room, every space in my large, sprawling 1750s house is full of books...

cynthia-riggs-on-living-in-a-house-of-books
Cynthia Riggs on Living in a House of Books
Monday, 30 April 2018

Our history and experiences can define us, inspire our actions, and as writers impact our words and stories. Mine most definitely has: my father was a small-time gangster. Really.

my-book-the-gangster-s-daughter
My Book: The Gangster’s Daughter
Thursday, 12 April 2018

"My ah-ha moment came when I read The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.... That was it for me – I was off to the races."

jacqueline-winspear-on-the-great-gatsby-2
Jacqueline Winspear on The Great Gatsby
Sunday, 01 April 2018

Nietzsche once wrote, “There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”

test-article-as-tery-from-kate-laptop
My Book: Head Wounds
Thursday, 15 February 2018

"Mystery books were daring and exciting, firing up my imagination and making me yearn to become a girl detective or even a secret agent. They also empowered me to make up impromptu ghost stories around the campfire for my Girl Scout troop and sneak into the cemetery at night on a dare."

laura-childs-on-growing-up-reading
Laura Childs on Growing Up Reading
Thursday, 27 July 2017

vietselaineCR CristianaPecheanuFire and Ashes, the latest Angela Richman Death Investigator mystery, is an exploration of a fatal fire. To research this novel, Viets delved into the devastating consequences of junk science and arson investigations.

fire-and-ashes-and-arson
Fire and Ashes and Arson