By TG Wolff
5
66 ratings
The podcast currently has 152 episodes available.
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.
Today’s featured release is Map of My Escape by Cheryl L. Reed
TG Wolff Review
Map of My Escape is a crime drama novel. Anti-gun activatist Riley Keane has done the unthinkable. In a crisis situation, she shot at two men wrestling. But did she shoot the assailant or her close friend and Chicago police officer Reece Taylor? Either way, she’s too hot to stay in her hometown. Now Alderman Finn O’Farrell, Riley’s lover, is left to deal with the fallout of threats, accusations, and blackmail.
Bottom line: Map of My Escape is for you if you like crime driven drama delivered at a pace to be savored.
About Cheryl L. Reed
A former staff editor and reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times and other publications, Cheryl L. Reed’s stories have won multiple awards, including Harvard’s Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. She has twice been awarded a U.S. Fulbright Scholar fellowship by the State Department, first in Ukraine and then in Central Asia. Reed is the author of the nonfiction book Unveiled: The Hidden Lives of Nuns and the novel Poison Girls, which won the Chicago Writers’ Association Book of the Year. She splits her time between Washington, DC and her home near the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.
Partners In Crime Tours represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website partnersincrimetours.com
Join us next week for Season 7 Games People Play. We have an adaptation for you from the early part of the 20th century. The game is a maze. The original is The Mystery of the Downs by John Watson and Arthur J. Rees. The name of the adaptation? I’m working on it.
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.
This is Season 7, Games People Play. Games are about competition conducted according to rules with participants working toward a goal. Games are a part of every culture and are one of the oldest forms of social interaction and engagement. Games can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. They can also be intense, cutthroat, and lethal. This season, our authors have fashioned deadly games and unscrupulous villains to test your detection skills.
This is Episode 23, Hangman is the featured game. This is The Hangman’s Ladies by TG Wolff
Sorry the show notes are skimpy this week. Reality reared up and bit me in the butt. Ah well, it happens. ~tg
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.
Today’s featured release is Lethal Standoff by Diann Mills
TG Wolff Review
Lethal Standoff is an amateur sleuth mystery. A hostage standoff by a desperate man has innocent lives in the crossfire. After a hostage crisis ends with loss of life, Hostage negotiator Carrington Reed and reporter Levy Ehrlich follow through on promises to seek answers and protect a suspect’s family. But if solving problems were that easy, they would have been solved already.
Bottom line: Lethal Standoff is for you if you like your mysteries and thrillers woven into the life and faith of your detectives.
Lethal Standoff was released from Tyndale and is promoted by Partners In Crime Tours and is available from on-line and other book retailers.
About Diann Mills
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She weaves memorable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels with threads of romance. DiAnn believes every breath of life is someone’s story, so why not capture those moments and create a thrilling adventure?
DiAnn is passionate about helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.
diannmills.com
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.
This is Season 7, Games People Play. Games are about competition conducted according to rules with participants working toward a goal. Games are a part of every culture and are one of the oldest forms of social interaction and engagement. Games can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. They can also be intense, cutthroat, and lethal. This season, our authors have fashioned deadly games and unscrupulous villains to test your detection skills.
This is Episode 21, Sorry is the featured game. This is Death by Candy Land by Kyra Jacobs
DELIBERATION
Candy Land is in chaos and Sheriff Cantalone has to figure out who gummed up this Halloween party by killing Harry Randall. Here are the players in the order we met them:
• Mic Garcia, host and Lord Licorice who was being blackmailed by Harry
• Savannah Livingston, the Lollipop Fairy who Harry flashed earlier that day
• Tyler Livingston, the Peppermint Forest lumberjack who owned the hardware story Harry vandalized
• Cindy Flannigan, Mrs. Nutt whose garden Harry trampled nightly
• Sam Flannigan, dressed as a giant peanut whose fence Harry destroyed
• The three Flannigan children, M&Ms who were mad Harry ruined the bounce house
• Doc Hallers, King Kandy who Harry blamed for his mother’s death
• Herb Smathers, Gloppy the Chocolate Blob who Harry repeatedly belittled
Here’s what we know:
• Harry was the neighborhood bully. Everyone except Mic had lodged complaints with the sheriff and complained that nothing was done.
• Mic welcomed his guests into the back yard but said he did not see Harry until he was dead.
• Tyler Livingston had met Harry at the decorated fence and told him to come in through the house. Savannah Livingston saw Harry in the kitchen, staring out the window. Doc Haller saw Harry take a pill and wash it down with liquor.
• Harry spilled Herb’s heart pills across the floor. Herb couldn’t be sure they all were found.
• The Livingston children said Harry banged on the outside of the bounce house, then crawled inside and refused to move.
• Harry had cuts and scratches on his arms and his lips were tinted blue. ME speculated the blue may have come from an overdose. No explanation was given on the cuts and scratches.
• Cindy Flannigan’s rake had red orange stains she said was from mulch. No damage or marks were noted on the other props.
• No one had any knowledge of illegal drugs. Mic said Harry kept to liquor and cigarettes.
It’s your move, where should Sheriff Cantalone go?
ABOUT Candy Land
Polio was an ancient disease that hit pandemic status in the 1940s and 1950s, crippling children and young adults until a vaccine was widely administered in 1955. Children recovering were bed bound and board. Teacher Eleanor Abbott, herself a victim of the disease, invented games to entertain recovering children, including Candy Land. Encouraged by friends, Abbott submitted her idea to Milton Bradley, who picked it up to fill-in their product line. It soon became their best selling game. In 2005, Candy Land was inducted into The Strong National Museum of Play. Candy Land has continued to grow and develop, offering game variations including special character editions and electronic editions so you can get your candy on no matter where you are.
https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/candy-land/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_Land#:~:text=The%20game%20was%20designed%20in,game%20to%20Milton%20Bradley%20Company.
https://www.britannica.com/science/polio/Polio-through-history
ABOUT Kyra Jacobs
Kyra Jacobs is an extroverted introvert who writes of love, humor, and mystery in the Midwest and beyond. When this Hoosier native isn’t pounding out scenes for her next book, she's likely outside, elbow-deep in snapdragons or spending quality time with her sports-loving family. Kyra also loves to read, tries to golf, and is an avid college football fan. Connect with her on social media, links can be found on her website at kyrajacobsbooks.com.
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.
Today’s featured release is On the Horns of Death by Eleanor Kuhns
TG Wolff Review
On the Horns of Death is historical mystery. Sixteen-year-old Martis volunteers as a bull dancer in Knossos on the isle of Crete. An ordinary day of practice turns dark when she discovers the body of another dancer inside a bullpen. But why would he climb into the pen? Answer: murder.
Bottom line: On the Horns of Death is for you if you like amateur sleuths and the rich sights, scents, and sounds of Ancient Greece.
The On the Horns of Death was released from Severn House and is promoted by Partners In Crime Tours and is available from on-line and other book retailers.
About Eleanor Kuhns
Eleanor Kuhns is a previous winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition for A Simple Murder. The author of eleven Will Rees mysteries, she is now a full-time writer after a successful career as the Assistant Director at the Goshen Public Library in Orange County, New York.
www.eleanor-kuhns.com
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.
This is Season 7, Games People Play. Games are about competition conducted according to rules with participants working toward a goal. Games are a part of every culture and are one of the oldest forms of social interaction and engagement. Games can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. They can also be intense, cutthroat, and lethal. This season, our authors have fashioned deadly games and unscrupulous villains to test your detection skills.
This is Episode 20, where the classic mystery game Clue is the featured game. This is Get a Clue by Chuck Brownman.
Deliberation:
Games are Andy Clay’s life but he’s stumped when he’s asked to help solve the murder of Gene Dockary and then Noah Whitmore. Detective Lansing isn’t helping him, so we have to. Here are the suspects in the order they were interviewed:
• Ruth Dockary, Gene’s wife and co-host of the weekend
• Steve Joseph, a thin, nervous man
• Kate Joseph, Steve’s strong, domineering wife
• Barbara Whitmore, Noah’s wife, co-owner of the inn who worked with Ruth on planning the weekend
• Paul Marcus, a nuclear bioengineer who is CEO of a medical start up.
Here are the clues:
• Five former Denver-area neighbors gathered at a small inn for the weekend. Ruth and Gene were hosting the getaway. Ruth worked with Barbara on the idea of the Clue game. Barbara supplied the props used by their guests.
• Gene Dockary was found strangled in the library with a rope. The library was accessed only through the game room. The killer needed strength to strangle Dockary but could have been male or female.
• Clue game cards Mrs. Peacock, the candlestick, and the study were found in Gene Dockery’s pocket. The cards did not come from life-sized Clue game.
• Gene Dockary was not playing the Clue game and was noted to be in a bad mood, going as far as snapping at Barbara Whitmore when she checked in on him.
• Gene Dockery was a salesman / developer who was working to get investors for the technology Paul Marcus was developing. His friends Steve and Kate Joseph invested.
• Steve and Kate Joseph were upset with Gene, who was pressuring them for additional investment funds.
• Paul Marcus had argued with Gene the prior week when Gene had made promises on Marcus’ technology that went beyond the terms of their agreement.
• When Gene Dockary was killed, the other guests had been moving throughout the rooms. Paul Marcus did not go into the library, purposely avoiding Gene.
• Noah Whitmore was found stabbed in the kitchen with one of his own cooking knives. The knife did not come from the closest knife block but one farther away. The kitchen was accessed through the sunroom and through the door to the second floor.
• Whitmore was found by Ruth Dockary. Barbara and Kate were upstairs together when Ruth screamed. Steve and Paul Marcus were in the sunroom.
• Noah and Barbara Whitmore claimed not to have met any of the guests prior to their arrival. The weekend was set up via email with Ruth Dockery, who thinks she picked the inn off a travel website.
• Noah Whitmore was about 20 years older than his wife. They bought the inn five years ago and have had little time to do anything else. Before the inn, they owned a restaurant in Denver.
Andy has rolled the dice, now who do the clues point to?
ABOUT Clue
The game of Clue had a simple beginning. Anthony Pratt, a British factory worker and musician, created a way to pass the time in air raid bunkers during WWII that took the concept of a game he played at parties and reduced it to a board. In the game called Murder, players would run around the host houses, sneaking up on other players, who would scream and “die”. In turning into a board game, Mr. Pratt borrowed the dice and token moving action of Lido (think of the game Sorry) and the detective novel concepts of suspect, weapon, and location. During the years of 1943 – 1945, Mr. Pratt and his wife, Elva designed the game board and the rules.Mr. Pratt patented the game and sold it to Waddington’s in the UK and Parker Brothers in the US.
Interesting tidbits:
• The game was released as Cluedo in England but Clue in the US as Lido wasn’t / isn’t a well know game here
• Pratt’s original concept had four more characters: Mr. Brown, Mr. Gold, Miss Grey, and Mrs. Silver. Nurse White was renamed to Mrs. White and Colonel Yellow renamed Colonel Mustard.
• The original concept had two additional rooms: the gun room and the cellar
• The original concept had some different weapons including a bomb, syringe, shillelagh (which is a wooden walking stick), a fireplace poker.
• Differenced between UK and US editions including lead piping vs lead pipe, spanner vs wrench, and dagger vs knife
• In the UK, the victim ws known as Mr. Black. In the states, he was Mr. Boddy. In the 2023 update by Hasbro, the victim is known as Mr. Boden “Boddy” Black, Jr.
Unlike some of the other games we’ve featured, Clue was constantly updated for the times. The rules of the game stayed basically the same but the character depictions, like on the box cover, were updated for the styles and tends of the times. Characters were given back stories and some had major career changes. There is a lot more to the history of the game Clue. Check out the links in the shownotes.
https://www.history.com/news/clue-game-origin-wwii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluedo#:~:text=Cluedo%20(%2F%CB%88klu%CB%90,the%20United%20Kingdom%20in%201949.
ABOUT Chuck Brownman
Chuck Brownman has spent the last twenty-five-plus years working on becoming an “overnight writing sensation.” Concentrating on writing mystery / suspense short fiction, his work has been published in several anthologies, including those listed at the top of the episode. In his “real life,” Chuck is a Houston-based corporate and energy attorney, advising and working for some of the country’s most entrepreneurial companies. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law, and has spoken at legal seminars for many years.
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.
Today’s featured release is Rogues & Patriots by Patrick H. Moore
TG Wolff Review
Rogues & Patriots is an PI thriller. Los Angeles PI Nick Crane does a friend a favor by taking on the two-headed case of investigating the murder of a Confidential Informant and saving his young daughters from the horrors of the juvenile immigration. But his time isn’t his own as an underground group of vigilantes are after him and something they think he possesses.
Bottom line: Rogues & Patriots is for you if you like ballsy private investigators, conspiracy thrillers, and blurred lines between the good guys and the bad.
The Rogues & Patriots was released from Down & Out Books and is promoted by Partners In Crime Tours and is available from AMAZON and other book retailers.
About Patrick H. Moore
Patrick H. Moore is a Los Angeles based investigator, sentencing mitigation specialist, and crime writer. In the field since 2003, he has worked in virtually all areas including drug trafficking, sex crimes, crimes of violence, and white-collar fraud. Mastering this job, which combines art, science, and intuition, has given Patrick the tools to write realistic crime fiction that depicts the unpredictable and violent world of cops, convicts, prosecutors and defense attorneys. Rogues & Patriots was the second in a three-part series in which veteran Los Angeles private investigator Nick Crane battles a group of aristocratic domestic terrorists known as the “principals.”
patrickhmoorewriter.com
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.
This is Season 7, Games People Play. Games are about competition conducted according to rules with participants working toward a goal. Games are a part of every culture and are one of the oldest forms of social interaction and engagement. Games can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. They can also be intense, cutthroat, and lethal. This season, our authors have fashioned deadly games and unscrupulous villains to test your detection skills.
This is Episode 19, where that new sensation pickleball is the featured game. This is In a Pickle by Kaye George
DELIBERATION
Melaine Hanover is in a real pickle. Her cantankerous husband, Harvey, is dead and the pink ball points back to her. We know she didn’t do it, so let’s give her our help to find the pickle in the middle of all of this. Here are the suspects in the order we met them:
• Tony, the pickleball hating neighbor who threatened to shoot Harvey
• Town Councilmen, the people who hated listening to Harvey nearly as much as Melaine
• Anonymous Pickleballers, the people who are opposed to Harvey’s opposition
• Kai, the cop who is Melaine’s lover
• The pretty woman, Julie, who is something to Kai
Here is what Melaine knows:
• Harvey hated pickleball and everyone who played it. He was making it his mission in retirement to run the sport out of town by sabotaging pickleball courts.
• Two young men, anonymous pickleballers, knew what Harvey was up to. They followed Harvey and Melaine home from the council meeting.
• Harvey’s and Tony’s houses were vandalized, the windows painted. The Anonymous Pickleballers are suspected. Tony blamed Harvey for stirring up the trouble and threatened to shoot him if he came on his property.
• Kai was one of the cops who escorted Harvey out of the council meeting.
• Melaine and Kai were starting an affair. Harvey didn’t seem to realize what his wife was doing. A pretty woman, suspected of being Kai’s wife, seemed to lurk.
• Melaine and Kai admitted they want to be together and agree to talk later. The pretty woman saw them talk.
• Harvey was found in the office of his house, shot in the chest. One of Melaine’s pickleballs was shoved in his mouth. He had let his killer into the house. His dog, Skitter, was the only witness.
Melaine is at the line. To whom should justice be served?
ABOUT Pickleball
From Wikipedia: Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two players (singles) or four players (doubles) hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball with paddles over a 34-inch-high (0.86 m) net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played indoors and outdoors. It was invented in 1965 as a children's backyard game in the United States, on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. In 2022, pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington. While it resembles tennis and table tennis, pickleball has separate rules, paddles, and court dimensions.
ABOUT Kaye George
Kaye George is an award-winning novelist and short-story writer who writes cozy and traditional mysteries and a prehistory series, which are both traditionally and self-published. Her two cozy series are Fat Cat and Vintage Sweets. The two traditional series feature Cressa Carraway and Imogene Duckworthy. The People of the Wind prehistory mysteries take place within a Neanderthal tribe. She has a suspense novel coming out in early 2025 called SOMEONE IS OUT THERE. About 50 or more short stories have also been published, mostly in anthologies and magazines. With family scattered all over the globe, she makes her home in Knoxville TN.
https://kayegeorge.wixsite.com/kaye-george
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.
Today’s featured release is The Guest House by Bonnie Traymore
TG Wolff Review
The Guest House is psychological thriller. Allie Dawson is on the ride of a lifetime. Her brainchild for a voice-to-caption product has received preliminary funding. But moving from Milwaukee to Silicon Valley has brought more than the expected challenges of getting a new product to market. She’s moved into a guest house where the rent was too good to be true. That should have been the first clue.
Bottom line: The Guest House is for you if you like female-centric stories where thrill and mystery are mechanisms for character growth.
The strengths of the story are also the most unique aspects. Our hero, Allie Dawson is deaf. She uses a cochlear implant that enables her to hear. Without it, she hears nothing. Allie’s deafness is presented in a way that we live it as an ordinary part of her life-which it is-similar to if she had to put in contacts each morning. I especially liked this because it felt natural. It was an important thing for us to understand, especially as to how it affects how Allie communicates, but it isn’t the most important thing to know about Allie. The most important thing is that she is courageous, willing to walk away from her comfortable life to chase a dream.
That leads us into the second strength, navigating the high-stakes and complicated world of the entrepreneur. Allie comes to Silicon Valley with a good idea and a prototype in development. Her job is to find someone to finish the engineering, figure out who can manufacture it, and find a few someones interested in funding all the above. This is not a field that I have seen explored in many stories, giving The Guest House a fresh feel.
Traymore uses a staccato storytelling style that makes you feel as if the character is reporting on their day to you. Take this example from Chapter two: “I’m also hungry and hot. But I’m on a tight schedule, so although I’d like to chill for a while, I need to keep going. I locate the restroom and, thankfully, there’s no line. When I come out, I rush up to the counter to look for my drink order. I pick up a few cups that could be mine and examine them, but my latte’s not ready yet. I let out a long sigh and glance at my watch.”
The Guest House is shown as a psychological thriller on the cover and listed as a techno-thriller on Amazon. The book meets most of the standards for a psychological thriller with the tension coming from mental stressors rather than physical. Overall, I found the tension to be mild as it generated more of a creepy feeling than nail-biting. This can be positive or negative, depending on a reader’s thrill-scale preference.
I had to look up techno-thriller, which is a subgenre where a technology is a dominant part of the story. I do not find this to be a good description. While Allie is trying to bring a technology to market, by her own admission, she doesn’t understand that part. Her engineer brother is working on it away from the story, as is the grad student she hired. While the technology concept is what gets Allie to Silicon Valley, the tech itself is not central to the story.
Overall, I felt The Guest House did not fit well within one genre category but was a combination of women’s fiction, thriller, and mystery. Women’s fiction was most dominant genre to me as the story wove growth of the alternating narrators Allie Dawson and Laura Foster. Allie’s part of the story did carry the thriller element, as she becomes suspicious of her landlords and their other renter. Laura’s part had a mystery feel as she focused on the potential role her stepson played in a supposedly natural death.
The logic of Allie’s action is strong. I did end up with some questions on the resolution of her storyline. The logic of Laura’s action is less clear, but it seems it was rooted in the first story. The Guest House is the 2nd book in the Silicon Valley Series. I would highly recommend reading the first book, The Stepfamily, first. The reason is this new book continues the story of the Foster family some months after the end of first. While there is a connection between Laura and Allie – Laura’s company is providing Allie’s initial funding – the stories are largely independent. Not having read the first one, I kept waiting for the two to intertwine. And so, to get maximum enjoyment out of The Guest House, I recommend starting with The Stepfamily for context and background.
Overall, The Guest House was an easy read. Both Allie and Laura were likeable and easy to cheer for. This is a great book for readers who enjoy character driven stories.
About Bonnie Traymore
Bonnie Traymore is the award-winning, Amazon bestselling author of page-turner mystery/thrillers that hit close to home. Her books feature strong but relatable female protagonists. The plots explore difficult topics such as jealousy, infidelity, murder, and the impact of psychological disorders, but she also includes bits of romance and humor to lighten the mood from time to time. She has active status member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.
www.BonnieTraymore.com
Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.
This is Season 7, Games People Play. Games are about competition conducted according to rules with participants working toward a goal. Games are a part of every culture and are one of the oldest forms of social interaction and engagement. Games can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. They can also be intense, cutthroat, and lethal. This season, our authors have fashioned deadly games and unscrupulous villains to test your detection skills.
This is Episode 18, that original LARP game War is the featured game. This is Did Not See That Coming by Ken Harris
TWO LISTENER NOTES before we get started. First, this is a two-part Mystery to Die For. Half the story was in last week’s episode with the rest of the story, the deliberation, and the big reveal in this one. So, if you missed Part 1, please go to it first.
Second, murder and solving it is our thing here at Mysteries to Die For but today’s story includes some real life topics that some audience members may be sensitive to including violence against children, bullying, and antisemitism.
DELIBERATION
Jawnie stand-in Steve Rockfish and his sidekick Estelle are chipping away at Karen Lazar’s cold case, but there’s still some work for us to do. Here is a list of the people living and working in Ewan, NJ back in 1976:
Here is what Rockfish and Estelle (and Jawnie, too) have discovered:
Dead or alive, who should Rockfish lock down for Karen’s murder?
ABOUT Playing Army
This was a difficult game to research. My normal search results ended up with a mix of websites and articles on 1) child soldiers in militaries past and present, 2) lead and little green army men, 3) and the least on Live Action Role Playing Army. I did find a book called PLAYING SOLDIER, THE BOOKS AND TOYS THAT PREPARED CHILDREN FOR WAR, 1871-1918 by Richard Cheek shows ways books, magazines, printed ephemera, and toys relating to military life and wartime experience were used to persuade boys to admire, and aspire to become, soldiers and sailors. I did not read the book, but link is in the show notes. One article from Scholastic dated 2014 argued the “pro” side of kids playing Jedi, ninja, cops, amry, etc. The benefits include feeding imagination, making kids feel powerful, building social skills including cooperation and negotiation. The few articles I read implied their were other articles or studies that focused on the “violence” and hence advocated for not allowing children to play – but I couldn’t find them. Being a parent, I’ve seen the elements of imagination, empowerment, and social skill development whenever kids create with other kids – games, sports, music, etc. – they just need parents to get out of the way.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo182665139.html
https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/parent-child/war-play-bad-kids.html
ABOUT Ken Harris
Ken Harris retired from the FBI, after thirty-two years, as a cybersecurity executive. With over three decades writing intelligence products for senior Government officials, Ken provides unique perspectives on the conventional fast-paced crime thriller. Ken previously participated in Mysteries to Die For seasons 5 & 6. He is the author of the “From the Case Files of Steve Rockfish” series. He spends days with his wife Nicolita, and two Labradors, Shady and Chalupa Batman. Evenings are spent playing Walkabout Mini Golf and cheering on Philadelphia sports. Ken firmly believes Pink Floyd, Irish whiskey and a Montecristo cigar are the only muses necessary. He is a native of New Jersey and currently resides in Virginia’s Northern Neck.
https://kenharrisfiction.com/
WRAP UP
That wraps this episode of Mysteries to Die For. Support our show by subscribing, telling a mystery lover about us, and giving us a five-star review. Check out our website TGWolff.com/Podcast for links to this season’s authors.
Mysteries to Die For is hosted by TG Wolff and Jack Wolff. Did Not See That Coming was written by Ken Harris. Music and production are by Jack Wolff. Episode art is by TG Wolff. Join us next week for a Toe Tag, which is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, or thriller genre. Then come back in two weeks for our next original story, In a Pickle by Kaye George where pickleball is the featured game
The podcast currently has 152 episodes available.