Fun Bits in Crime Fiction (End of 2023)

Short Stories by Kate Flora

It’s the Holidays and Kate Flora invites you to read her four Christmas short stories. If you read nothing else on this page, I hope you will find time to read one of them as they are all feel-good crime fiction stories. Just what the doctor ordered for me, anyway, as the world does seem darker than any of my preceding 76 Christmases. Free for the reading!

Go to her website — https://kateclarkflora.com — and look for the four story links in the banner at the top of the front page. Each story might take you 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!

• A CHRISTMAS STORY
• ANGEL’S CHRISTMAS EVE
• REFORM SCHOOL: A CHRISTMAS STORY
• THE GOOD BAD GUY – A CHRISTMAS STORY

I definitely recommend her Detective Joe Burgess books, so you may want to request them from the library or buy yourself a copy of Book 1, Playing God.

Better the Blood – a Post Script.

It’s official, as of Friday, November 24! Better the Blood (our September book) was made the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, after months of judging and some tough decisions to parse some amazing books. The Ngaio Marsh awards are determined by New Zealanders and announced in Christchurch, New Zealand. The three winners for 2023 were:

• Best First Novel: BETTER THE BLOOD by Michael Bennett
• Best Non-Fiction: MISSING PERSONS by Steve Braunias
• Best Novel: REMEMBER ME by Charity Norman

Reacher Show Update. (Amazon Prime)

The first three episodes of Reacher, Season 2, will premiere on Prime Video on Thursday, December 14, 2023. The remaining five episodes will stream on Prime Video every Friday, with the finale streaming on January 19, 2024.

Season 2 is an adaptation of Lee Child’s Bad Luck and Trouble (#11 in the series). Season 1, is still on Prime and I think it did a very good representation of Child’s famous character and the plot line of Killing Floor (#1 in the series published in 1997). If you have not seen it, go and watch it first. Meanwhile, I think I will wait until January 19 and then binge-watch all of the episodes of Season 2.

The Vera Christmas Special Announcement. (BritBox)

This feature-length Christmas special is based on Ann Cleeves’s latest Vera book The Rising Tide (2022) and will begin streaming on BritBox December 20. This film takes DCI Vera Stanhope on a chilling investigation as she finds herself drawn to the enchanting tidal island of Lindisfarne, where a group of lifelong friends reunites every five years. But As the tide rises, long-concealed secrets begin to surface …

[NOTE: Seasons 3, 4, and 5 of Vera are available free via the library connection to Hoopla.]

Midsomer Murders Show Update. (AcornTV)

Season 24, with only 4 episodes, began streaming on Acorn TV on December 4. The series is based on Caroline Graham’s Chief Inspector Barnaby novels, and set in the fictional Midsomer County in England. It is interesting that Graham’s seven Inspector Barnaby novels ballooned into 138 episodes of TV programming! She wrote the first Barnaby story at 57 and the last of them at 74.

[NOTE: The first 16 seasons of Midsomer Murders are available free via the library connection to Hoopla.]

Shetland Show Update. (BritBox)

Season 8 episodes began appearing November 29 -one week at at time- on BritBox. There will be 6 episodes. The Shetland series are based on the DCI Jimmy Perez series written by Ann Cleeves (8 books in all).

Season 8 features a change in protagonist, however. Ashley Jensen is taking over as the island’s top cop following the departure of Douglas Hensall as DI Jimmy Perez. Shetland will have a new feel as Ashely’s DI Ruth Calder will be teaming up with long-standing series regular DS Alison “Tosh” McIntosh (Alison O’Donnell). The plot will see Calder heading back to her native Shetland to protect a vulnerable witness to a gangland murder. But can Calder and Tosh find the witness in time? And how will the pair work together, especially given Calder’s hostility towards Shetland? If you have never seen this show, I’ll say that it is well-acted and the scenery is outstanding; start with Season 1 if possible.

Ho Ho Ho – Poe Poe Poe

Celebrate the Mystery of Christmas or, celebrate mystery during Christmas…

And to sign off with a good laugh, let’s re-do “The Raven” for Christmas. See what we get….

Happy Holidays to All!