LONE STAR SLEUTHS

by Deborah Elliott-Upton

Like most Criminal Brief readers, I’m always on the lookout for a new book to read. First on my list are mysteries (although I am open to all sorts of genres). In my search, I found Lone Star Sleuths: An Anthology of Texas Crime Fiction, a collection of excerpts of some fine novels. This book is an introduction to mystery writers I know well and some others that are new to me, which is always a treat.

According to the book’s website , Texas has seen fictional crime stories staged from “the highest point of the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas to the Piney Woods of East Texas, from the High Plains of the Panhandle to the subtropical climate of the lower Rio Grande Valley.”

The Table of Contents reads:

• Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr
• Camino del Rio by Jim Sanderson
• Time Bombs by Nancy Herndon
• Bordersnakes by James Crumley
• Death of a Healing Woman by Allana Martin
• The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
• A Twist at the End by Steven Saylor
• The Rock Critic Murders by Jesse Sublett
• Buck Fever by Ben Rehder
• Rosemary Remembered by Susan Wittig Albert
• Armadillos and Old Lace by Kinky Friedman
• Heat from Another Sun by David L. Lindsey
• Interstate Dreams by Neal Barrett, Jr.
• Drowned Man’s Key by Ken Grissom
• Bay of Sorrows by Gaylord Dold
• Umbrella Man by Doug J. Swanson
• Prime Suspect by A. W. Gray
• The Sheriff and the Panhandle Murders
• The Two-Bear Mambo by Joe R. Lansdale
• Gone Fishin’ by Walter Mosley
• Funny as a Dead Relative by Susan Rogers Cooper
• Death on the River Walk by Carolyn Hart
• The Last King of Texas by Rick Riordan
• The Case of the Hook-billed Kites by J. S. Borthwick
• Partners in Crime by Rolando Hinojosa
• Winning Can Be Murder by Bill Crider
• Hot Enough to Kill by Paula Boyd
• Do Unto Others by Jeff Abbott
• Agatite by Clay Reynolds
• The Red Scream by Mary Willis Walker

Recognize many names or titles? While some of my favorite authors are included here, several authors or titles were new to me. Although I enjoy crime stories from many locations, I look forward to reading these stories about my home state and hope you will, too.

If this listing tempts you, ordering from the website offers a 33% discount on the paperback book. I think you might find it a killer read, Texas style.