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Daryl M.

Librarian


Posts by Daryl M.


Reviews by Daryl M.

  • Cover image for The Devil and the Dark Water

    The Devil and the Dark Water

    • By: Turton, Stuart
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    In a "locked-room" or "impossible crime" mystery, a crime, or series of crimes, is committed under circumstances that appear, at least initially, impossible for said crime to have been enacted. Those same conditions will also seem to preclude the criminal entering or exiting the crime scene.The first “locked-room” mystery was...
  • Cover image for The Eighth Detective

    The Eighth Detective

    • By: Pavesi, Alex
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    In the early 1940s, a Scottish professor of mathematics devises a mathematical definition of the murder mystery story and writes seven provocative stories as proof of his theory. He publishes a journal article regarding his ideas and then self-publishes his seven stories in a small volume, entitled The White Murders.Decades...
  • Cover image for Crossings : consisting of three manuscripts

    Crossings : consisting of three manuscripts

    • By: Landragin, Alex
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Crossings, Alex Landragin’s debut novel is as difficult to define as it is to describe. At its most elemental, Crossings is a collection of three novellas that collectively tell a story. There are elements of several different genres present: historical fiction, mystery, fantasy, and romance. And, perhaps most surprising, the...
  • Cover image for Before She Was Helen

    Before She Was Helen

    • By: Cooney, Caroline B.
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Helen Stephens lives a quiet life in Sun City, a retirement community in South Carolina. She regularly plays cards in the clubhouse with other residents of the complex, including her neighbors Joyce and Johnny. While she is mostly retired, she continues teaching some Latin classes at a local high school...
  • Cover image for It Came From the Sky

    It Came From the Sky

    • By: Sedoti, Chelsea
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Sixteen-year-old Gideon Hofstadt prefers an orderly life and an orderly future. In his schoolwork, he excels in the sciences, but struggles with the vagaries of the humanities. It is the same way he struggles with his relationships with his family, friends, and his maybe boyfriend, Owen. Gideon cares about Owen...
  • Cover image for The Operator

    The Operator

    • By: Berg, Gretchen
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    In a world where most people walk around with a telephone on their person that can allow them to contact someone anywhere in the country, or the world, easily and directly, it may be a bit of a shock to realize that as little as 50 years ago many people...
  • Cover image for The Darwin Affair

    The Darwin Affair

    • By: Mason, Timothy
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    It probably goes without saying that when Charles Darwin published his revolutionary theories regarding evolution, and their supporting evidence, in The Origin of Species in 1859, there was controversy. Even today, 160 years later, Darwin’s theory of species evolving over time still engenders strong feelings of resistance to his ideas...
  • Cover image for The Ghosts of Sherwood

    The Ghosts of Sherwood

    • By: Vaughn, Carrie
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    The earliest references to Robin Hood date back to the 14th century, and the earliest surviving copies of the story are from the 15th century. The details may change, but the core of the legend concerns a nobleman turned outlaw with a band of followers known as the Merry Men...