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Open Letters Review

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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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February 20, 2020

It’s a Mystery: “Never met a sacred cow he didn’t want to slay”

February 20, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “Never met a sacred cow he didn’t want to slay”

A top notch mystery that is intricately layered to keep you in suspense.

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February 20, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Crime & Thrillers, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, Tessa Wegert, Berkley, mystery series, mystery fiction, crime fiction, thrillers
February 03, 2020

It’s a Mystery:  “Loyalty is a distorting mirror”

February 03, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery:  “Loyalty is a distorting mirror”

A beautifully realized thriller that moves at a pulse-pounding pace to a heart-stopping climax.

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February 03, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Crime & Thrillers, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
Raymond Fleischmann, Berkley, It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman
January 21, 2020

It’s a Mystery: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go”

January 21, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go”

A new American classic; powerful, indelibly real and deeply moving.

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January 21, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Crime & Thrillers, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
Jeanine Cummins, Irma Heldman, It's a Mystery, mystery fiction, crime fiction, Flatiron Books
December 13, 2019

The Best Books of 2019: Mystery!

December 13, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Best Books of 2019: Mystery!

It’s plain to see why these books are the best mysteries of 2019!

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December 13, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, Stevereads
Best of 2019, Best of Lists, mystery fiction, stevereads, Steve Donoghue
November 27, 2019

It’s a Mystery: “The best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance.”

November 27, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “The best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance.”

Actions fueled by love are not always attractive or even right but they are always meaningful.

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November 27, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Crime & Thrillers, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
Saul Black, St. Martin's Press, It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, mystery series, mystery fiction, thrillers, crime fiction
November 04, 2019

An Equal Justice by Chad Zunker

November 04, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
An Equal Justice by Chad Zunker

True to formula legal thriller—an ambitious young lawyer, a prestigious law firm, skullduggery rather easily stumbled upon, and a hastily-improvised master plan.

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November 04, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Crime & Thrillers, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Chad Zunker, spy thriller, suspense, Thomas and Mercer, Brilliance Books, Steve Donoghue
October 30, 2019

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer

October 30, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer

Meyer knows exactly how to do this kind of pastiche, right down to the book’s chirpy footnotes.

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October 30, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Nicholas Meyer, Minotaur Books, Sherlock Holmes, pastiche, mystery fiction, Steve Donoghue
October 22, 2019

It’s a Mystery: “The surest way to work up a crusade for some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone”

October 22, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “The surest way to work up a crusade for some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone”

A richly atmospheric novel that explores love and pain in many guises.

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October 22, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, Fiction-Crime & Thrillers
Ann Cleeves, Minotaur Books, detective fiction, gay fiction, Jonathan Kellerman, Irma Heldman, mystery series, crime fiction, mystery fiction
October 01, 2019

It’s a Mystery: “Constant togetherness is fine—but only for Siamese twins”

October 01, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “Constant togetherness is fine—but only for Siamese twins”

A deftly wrought standalone that calls to mind Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple.

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October 01, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Nevada Barr, It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, Minotaur Books, mystery fiction
September 17, 2019

A Dangerous Engagement by Ashley Weaver

September 17, 2019/ Olive Fellows
A Dangerous Engagement by Ashley Weaver

Readers will recognize the trusty formula, but Weaver injects a dose of the unfamiliar into this cozy mystery.

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September 17, 2019/ Olive Fellows/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Ashley Weaver, Minotaur Books, mystery series, mystery fiction, Olive Fellows
August 06, 2019

It’s a Mystery: Don’t ever tell a soldier guns are fun

August 06, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: Don’t ever tell a soldier guns are fun

It’s a Mystery Double Feature.

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August 06, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Crime & Thrillers, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Robert Pobi, Ellison Cooper, Minotaur Books, Irma Heldman, It's a Mystery, mystery fiction
July 16, 2019

It’s a Mystery: There is no “I” in Team

July 16, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: There is no “I” in Team

A trail full of twists and turns that takes delightful detective duo Lydia Chin and Bill Smith deep into unlikely places.

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July 16, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, S. J. Rozan, Pegasus Crime, mystery series, detective fiction, mystery fiction
June 25, 2019

It’s a Mystery: “If you want your enemy to fail, give him something important to do”

June 25, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “If you want your enemy to fail, give him something important to do”

The usual suspects and some worthy newcomers keep the suspense at breakneck speed.

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June 25, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, Fiction-Crime & Thrillers, It's a Mystery
Mick Herron, Soho Crime, Irma Heldman, It's a Mystery, crime fiction, mystery fiction
June 12, 2019

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes Edited by Graeme Davis

June 12, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes Edited by Graeme Davis

The biting little irony is that finishing this book will create a near-irresistible urge to read a Holmes story.

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June 12, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, Anthologies/Short Stories
Graeme Davis, Pegasus Books, anthology, Sherlock Holmes, mystery fiction, Steve Donoghue
May 28, 2019

It’s a Mystery: “Those that know the most must mourn the deepest”

May 28, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “Those that know the most must mourn the deepest”

An exquisitely crafted, stunning novel, set in a strange, ancient, beautiful place.

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May 28, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Crime & Thrillers, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, Julia Phillips, crime fiction, mystery fiction
May 08, 2019

Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Japan by Keisuke Matsuoka

May 08, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Japan by Keisuke Matsuoka

Meiji-era Japan is an appealingly exotic setting for a Holmes adventure.

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May 08, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Translated, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Sherlock Holmes, Keisuke Matsuoka, Japanese fiction, James Balzer, Vertical Inc, Steve Donoghue
April 11, 2019

Metropolis by Phillip Kerr

April 11, 2019/ Irma Heldman
Metropolis by Phillip Kerr

In Metropolis, we meet the gimlet-eyed gumshoe with a penchant for wiseass humor in the summer of 1928.

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April 11, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
It's a Mystery, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Phillip Kerr, Putnam, mystery series, Bernie Gunther, Irma Heldman, mystery fiction
March 26, 2019

It’s a Mystery:  “Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time”

March 26, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery:  “Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time”

Truth is often stranger than fiction, particularly when inspired by it.

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March 26, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
It's a Mystery, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Claire Harman, Irma Heldman, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, mystery fiction
February 28, 2019

It’s a Mystery: “Experience, contrary to common belief, is mostly imagination”

February 28, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “Experience, contrary to common belief, is mostly imagination”

Leon portrays Venice, one of the most intriguing cities on earth, with an added dimension all her own.

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February 28, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, Donna Leon, Atlantic Monthly Press, mystery series, detective fiction, international fiction, mystery fiction
February 06, 2019

It’s a Mystery: “Evil for evil’s sake is an invention of man”

February 06, 2019/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery:  “Evil for evil’s sake is an invention of man”

A mystery that comes together like the bulletin board full of thread and pins.

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February 06, 2019/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
David Housewright, Minotaur Books, Irma Heldman, It's a Mystery, St. Martin's Press, detective fiction, thrillers, suspense, MacMillan Publishers, mystery fiction
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Editors:

Steve Donoghue
Sam Sacks
Britta Böhler
____________________

Eric Karl Anderson
Olive Fellows
Jack Hanson
Jennifer Helinek
Justin Hickey
Hannah Joyner
Zach Rabiroff
Jessica Tvordi

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