Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

If it weren’t for my Theme Team book club at my local library, I would likely never have even known about this book, let alone read it. For each of our bi-monthly meetings, we each read a different book on the same topic. For our September meeting, the theme was mystery. At the end of our July meeting one of our members mentioned this book to me because the author is the singer/songwriter for the smash hit “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)“. She went on to tell me the premise of the book. It sounded kind of absurd but fun, so I decided to read it.

The plot revolves around Cliff Iverson, an aircraft designer whose boss has changed his design on the latest aircraft, set to make or break the company. Unfortunately, his boss is conniving, controlling, selfish jerk who knows nothing of aircraft design. While the change will save money, it will also create a catastrophic failure at some future date, likely killing hundreds of passengers. When Cliff and two others confront their boss, he ignores them. Worse, one he forcibly retires without benefits by framing him for industrial espionage. Another is driven to suicide. Finally, Cliff has had enough and attempts to murder his boss. It doesn’t go well, but Cliff finds himself at a school that trains would be murderers on how to do it right.

This tongue-in-cheek tale of murder is so fun! I almost feel horrible writing that, but it is. The school attempts to have some morals behind murder by requiring it be done right and only to those who deserve it. In fact they have four rules that must be followed. Once at the school and after, the story follows Cliff and two other students and their “theses” (planned murders). These are incredibly complex and clever. However, they are rather easy to follow without being obvious. In fact, some of the things done aren’t clear when they happen until suddenly I found myself thinking, “Oh, that’s why they did that!” This is not a traditional mystery with a murder that you slowly learn who did it. Rather, you see murder from the other side and slowly learn how they plan to execute said murder. It is a funny, absurd joy ride of a novel that I recommend to any mystery fan.

My rating: 4/5

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Time for another book club read. This month the theme was mystery or thriller. We selected this book to read. I originally had it on my list to read when I heard the author on Adam Grant’s podcast ReThinking. The title of the episode from 2023 was “The psychology of fiction with Jennifer Lynn Barnes“.

The plot surrounds an orphaned teenager named Avery Grambs. Her troubled life is suddenly interrupted by the surprising news that she is the inheritor of the recently deceased billionaire Tobias Hawthorne. Odd. She had no idea why. In any case, she has to live in Hawthorne House for one year to get the money. Of course, none of the family want her there, even Hawthorne’s four grandsons, all around her age. A puzzle lover, naturally Avery sets out to uncover why this all is happening.

While this technically a YA novel, I expected more from it. The plot felt rather simplistic and the mysteries uncovered rather easily. And some of the revelations tying it together didn’t quite work for me. They feel contrived to make the story work. So, while I enjoyed the book enough to finish it, I don’t expect to read its sequels.

My rating: 3/5

Uncanny Magazine Issue #65, July/August 2025

Once again I am reviewing the stories in the latest issue of a magazine I subscribe to. All stories are available to read online for free by clicking on the story title. If you like what you read from a particular magazine, I highly encourage you to subscribe. It is very inexpensive and helps support short speculative fiction writers and publications.

“The Diner at the Intersection of Duty and Despair” by John Chu (7,422 words) — Two chosen one participants work to save a bridge that holds worlds together. Oh, and they have a prior relationship, too. (My rating: 3/5)

“When He Calls Your Name” by Catherynne M. Valente (10,219 words) — A woman’s husband is drawn away by a beauty who is not all that she seems to be. Let’s just say that fans of Dolly Parton will especially appreciate this supernatural exploration of power, relationships, and cheating. (My rating: 5/5)

“Finer than Silk, Brighter than Snow” by Shveta Thakrar (2,385 words) — A laundress learns ancient tales from a snake who turns out to be a demon. A straightforward fairy tale about the value of story. (My rating: 3/5)

“The Garden” by Emma Törzs (5,096 words) — A god or undead person trapped in the city due to running water in the canals watches her neighbor water her garden during a drought. A little flat. I felt like it could have said more. (My rating: 3/5)

“Whalesong” by Daniel H. Wilson (7,038 words) — A mother and son confront each other on a research trip to observe the Great Convergence of whales. A touching story of how a mother and son can misunderstand each other their whole lives. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Terrarium” by Jordan Taylor (3,995 words) — An heir to a lord who is in love with another young man let’s loose fairy moths. A heartbreaking story of learning to deal with change. (My rating:4/5)

“The Best Way to Survive a Tiger Attack” by A.W. Prihandita (1,495 words) — A young girl who was mentally abused by her nanny who she sees as a tiger, does her best to behave. Explores the mixed up emotions that arise in such situations. (My rating: 3/5)

Average rating per story: 3.71

Missed One!

I missed one story from my review yesterday of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, July/August 2025. It was the last, and in my opinion, the best story in the issue. It was also the longest as the only novella. That story is…

“The Chronolithographer’s Assistant” by Suzanne Palmer (30,507 words) — A young man from a fishing family, terrified of the sea, seeks to become the assistant to an artist in a nearby cottage. A touching coming of age story with a twist. (My rating: 5/5)

Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, July/August 2025

Another post where I give my brief summaries and ratings for the stories in one of the magazines I read.

“Most Things” by Rich Larson (13,570 words) — Something from the quantum realm called the Slip has escaped and is searching for a scientist. Zany fun that reminded me of Cheech and Chong or Bill and Ted. (My rating: 4/5)

“In the Halls of the Makeshift King” by Tobias S. Buckell (4,928 words) — A pilgrim to the Alcove Above is made Makeshift King and has a big decision to make. The shaft is described slowly and in a way I found hard to picture, but the civilization-level decision foisted on one individual is intriguing. (My rating: 4/5)

“Another Mother on Mars” by Dominica Phetteplace (9,916 words) — A scientist on Mars longs to have a baby, specifically a clone. Nothing really new here for me. Well written but nothing grabbed me. (My rating: 3/5)

“Worm Song” by Derek Künsken (6,060 words) — An augmented human finds herself alienated from her wife and drawn to the worm song on a gas giant planet where dragons are in danger of going extinct. (My rating: 4/5)

“Aftermath” by William Preston (6,763 words) — An investigator and his team look into strange events. Inspired by Ray Bradbury. The writing kept me turning the pages but was still somehow a little too opaque for me. (My rating: 4/5)

“In the Gardener’s Service” by Michèle Laframboise (14,243 words) — The Questor for the Emperor is tasked with preserving the empire by coming to the rescue of a young girl. Fascinating world. The main character species is an animal that also photosynthesizes. (My rating: 4/5)

“Pirates of Highship” by Stephen Case (8,121 words) — The son of a very wealthy mother uses her money to experiment with trying to talk to a planetary mind. Very much a brief thriller with a fascinating premise (a sentient planet). Calls back to Stanslaw Lem’s Solaris. (My rating: 5/5)

“Perri’s Fate” by Robert Reed — This is a story in a world that I have never read any. It is a long novelette that I chose not to read. (No rating)

“The Courier” by Lavie Tidhar (4,292 words) — A courier makes her rounds on Mars. Nothing special here. Likable characters. Maybe you need to have read the other stories in the series. (My rating: 3/5)

“Vivienne” by E. H. Lipton (164 words) — A lover talks to his lover about a what if. Says a lot in few words but lacks some clarity and direction. (My rating: 3/5)

Average story rating: 3.77/5

One note. Going forward, I am only reading magazines where the stories are available to read for free online. This means that I will no longer be reading either Analog or Asimov’s. Neither of these magazines makes their stories available to read online. That is a pity. They have some really great fiction. Another reason I am choosing to no longer read these is that the epub formats continue to be poorly laid out. At first it seemed that they only ran their PDF through a converter and didn’t proofread it. Now, with the new owners, they are doing a poor job of properly managing the layout in the CSS file resulting in italics where they don’t belong and a lack of italics where they are needed, inconsistently. It makes reading them less than the pleasure it should be. So you can look forward to reviews of each issue of these magazines that I am now subscribed to and reading:

And I am still reading novels and non-fiction that will also be reviewed from time to time. The schedule for these will continue to be on weekends at noon with short posts about my highest rated short stories to read coming out weekdays at noon.

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Last weekend, my partner and I went to a wedding out of state. Naturally, I went looking for an audiobook to listen to in the car. My partner prefers thrillers; she likes propulsive plots. I filtered my library’s audiobooks to those immediately available and the proper length for our trip. I borrowed two of them and my partner selected this one to listen to. It would turn out to be a poor choice for both of us.

The plot sounded like your typical thriller. A woman comes home to find her husband murdered and is immediately made a suspect. She is forced to go on the run and figure out who has set her up and why. But I would not characterize this novel as a thriller. If you are looking for a fast moving story with twists and turns, look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for a story that explores how this kind of trauma might affect someone and shows their determination to overcome it, then it might be for you.

In any case, I found the writing indulgent and repetitive. Rather than finding the main character resilient and strong, I found her whiny and weak. This book simply does not follow the thriller model. Now, I know that that model is completely unrealistic. But when I pick up a book labeled as a thriller, that’s what I expect. I don’t expect a psychological navel gazing novel of a person trying to overcome the trauma of her husband’s grisly murder. And that’s my main complaint about this book. It was a bait and switch. I didn’t get what I was looking for in the book. On top of that, the book was way longer than it needed to be. The reveal happens many times and takes too long to be resolved. It is just a terrible thriller. We didn’t even finish it. By the time we go home we had over two hours left to listen to. We bailed. I looked up on the internet how it ended. Trite and predictable. We made the right decision.

My rating: 1/5

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie

Each member of the book club at my local library reads a different book on the same topic. The topic for our meeting in July was biography or memoir. I originally thought of reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. However, one our members is retired from IT and avoids it like crazy. So I looked elsewhere. I remember that a member of my other book club recommended a biography of Catherine the Great of Russia. I checked in with her to find out which book that was. It turned out to be Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie.

Last year I started watching a Russian television production on Amazon Prime entitled Ekaterina that was about Catherine the Great, so I was already familiar with the early part of her story. She was German minor nobility and was born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst. She met her future husband, her second cousin Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp and grandson of Peter the Great, on a trip to Berlin when she was ten. The marriage was later arranged by Peter the Great’s daughter and then Empress of Russia, Elizabeth. She renamed her nephew Peter and designated him as her successor. He hated Russia and worshiped Frederick the Great and all things Prussian. After Catherine married him, he refused to consummate the marriage preferring to play soldier. Catherine was forced to conceive an heir by another man. After Elizabeth died, Peter became Emperor Peter III. This was short lived. He was viewed by the nobility as not reliable. Catherine had gotten the nobility and the Russian people on her side. With their help, she overthrew her husband and became Empress Catherine.

She was an unusual woman in history and for her time. While believing enlightened monarchy was the only right government for Russia, she loved Russia and her people. She was also a woman who desired love and companionship though she never quite found a satisfying partner. Grigory Potemkin came closest to a true love and may have been her second husband. However, he could never quite get over his jealousy of her former lovers. Still very much in love, they lived the last years of their marriage separated. Catherine was also an astute politician, patron of the arts, and supporter of Enlightenment ideas.

The major thread of this biography is Catherine’s humanity. She is a whole person that we get to know. Her life was challenging, but she was strong. The other people in the book also show up as real people. That’s what stands out. This is not dry, boring history. This is the fascinating story of Russian leaders living their lives. You can’t get a more vivid portrait of this woman or her times.

My rating: 5/5

Clarkesworld Magazine Issue #226, July 2025

Clarkesworld is my favorite short fiction magazine. Here are my mini review from the July issue.

“Missing Helen” by Tia Tashiro (5,830 words | 24 minutes) — A woman learns that her ex-husband is engaged to her clone. A fantastic use of point of view as a reveal. Explores complications in relationships. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Walled Garden” by Fiona Moore (6,530 words | 26 minutes) — After the last of a tool breaks that was used for gardening, Morag struggles to figure out how to grow food. A continuation of the story of Morag started in “The Spoil Heap” and continued it “King of the Castle“. This story alternates passages in the present with those of her past after leaving her village. (My rating: 4/5)

“Welcome to Kearney” by Gary Kloster (9,110 words | 37 minutes) — A newly sentient android shows up at a historic town/museum where the caretaker human fixes it. Explores the complexity of human relationships and our desire to fix things and people. Wonderful! (My rating: 5/5)

“Serpent Carriers” by K.A. Teryna (14,500 words | 58 minutes) — Three stories told by an old man around a fire. This story is nearly unintelligible. But I feel like there is something there that I just missed. Not for me. (My rating:2/5)

“Bits and Pieces on This Floor” by Eric Del Carlo (4,050 words | 16 minutes) — An officer of the Galactic Collective supervises the clearing of a mining planet that is being abandoned. Great story development, with little pieces revealing more little by little. (My rating: 4/5)

“A Land Called Folly” by Amal Singh (3,660 words | 15 minutes) — A young man estranged from his space faring family returns home to his dying grandfather. A bit confusing. (My rating: 3/5)

“Hunter Harvester” by Bam Bruin (3,670 words | 15 minutes) — Women on a colonized planet who are harvesting native cabbages find out a bit more about what they are eating. All the colonizers are women. A fascinating look at reproduction and colonization. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating per story: 3.86/5

Clarkesworld Magazine Issue #225, June 2025

Time for my monthly summary of the latest issue of Clarkesworld that I have read.

“Emily of Emerald Starship” by Ng Yi-Sheng (3,860 words | 16 minutes) — A mother who has become a spaceship controls her family and tries to corral her son when he falls in love with a horse stable owner. A beautiful, heartbreaking story with a clever use of vague language. (My rating: 5/5)

“If an Algorithm Can Cast a Shadow” by Claire Jia-Wen ((5,040 words | 21 minutes) — A mother whose son died in an auto accident orders a Digital Double of him. This one was just okay for me. (My rating: 3/5)

“In the Shells of Broken Things” by A.T. Greenblatt (7,050 words | 28 minutes) — A man seeks to understand his family member who left the Evergreen Domes decades ago. A sweet story of reconciliation and openness. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Eighth Pyramid” by Louis Inglis Hall (8,060 words | 33 minutes) — A lone family attempts to preserve knowledge of previous species as the leaders of their world claim it to be the pinnacle. Shows what defending truth can sometimes bring. (My rating: 4/5)

“Faces of the Antipode” by Matthew Marcus (8,680 | 35 minutes) — On a planet cooling due to the actions of its colonizers, one of them seeks answers among the indigenous people of the jungle on the opposite side of the planet. Despite prejudice, we can always learn from the “other”. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Last Lunar New Year” by Derek Künsken (5,310 words | 22 minutes) — In the far future in our dying solar system, a high court of descendants of humans considers a request from distant relatives. I love the far future feel of this story. Reminds me of a Dr. Who episode. (My rating: 4/5)

“The Last to Survive” by Rita Chang-Eppig (5,720 words | 23 minutes) — The first cyberized person returns to a place from her past desperate to hang onto her memories. A story of unwanted celebrity. (My rating: 4/4)

“Outlier” by R.L. Meza (2,930 words | 12 minutes) — A homeless person is experimented on turning her into a scorpion for use in further experiments. Explores agency. A little too confusing for my taste. (My rating: 3/5)

Average rating per story: 4.125/5

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

This book has been on my list to read for a long time. I finally got to reading it because it was selected by my book club to read in June when we read LGBTQ+ fiction or history.

The setting is Egypt in 1912. But this is not exactly the Egypt of our history. In this Egypt, a rift was opened between the world of the djinn and our world. Now djinn live and work side by side with humans. The main character Fatma is a detective in the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. And she is assigned to investigate a quite unusual murder. An Englishmen and the members of his cult were all killed by a fire that burned only their flesh and not their clothes. On top of this murder, Fatma is assigned a new partner despite the fact that she likes to work alone. And a recent girlfriend shows up unexpectedly, adding to the mix.

The storytelling is immersive. The world comes to life. Unfortunately, the author uses a lot of new (to me) words without defining any of them. These are mostly terms for clothing and foods that were unfamiliar to me. I could tell the type of thing from the context, but the details weren’t there. I found this inhibited my ability to bring the world to mind as vividly as I like. Despite this shortcoming, the story drew me in as did the characters and their relationships. They felt plausible and deeply human. The plot itself was a bit on the simplistic side. Easy to follow but just the right amount of mystery to keep me wanting to find out what happens next. An enjoyable read that would have been made better by a glossary or better descriptions in context.

My rating: 3.5/5