Brandon Barrows

Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 4, Spring 2022 is billed as The Detective Issue and opens with “Poor Little Rich Man: A Sam Harrigan Story” by Editor Brandon Barrows. P.I. Sam Harrigan is awakened in his office by somebody at his door. That man was Mark Cole who as an actor. Now he is dead having made it his last act on stage to appear at the door of his office. Why and who killed him are two questions that private investigator Sam Harrigan intends to answer.

He used to be a detective show more who did some things that crossed the line. Some of those things pushed him out of the job. There is still time to atone for a thing he should have handled long ago in “Badge” by Michael Grimala.

Solving the puzzle was always the attraction for Dick which is why he left the police force and opened his own agency. It is a one-person agency as he prefers working alone to connect the dots. In “See The Signs” by Craig Terlson, he is looking for a missing kid. Simon seems to be a bit young to be a runaway. The mom, Mrs. Jackson, wants no police involvement. That is the first of several oddities with this one.

Harry McLean has had enough of Caleb as “Caleb’s Cannon” by M.E. Proctor begins. The pay for information dance is familiar, but Harry has had enough. It has been a rough few days in the heat of South-East Texas on a stakeout and now a new case is in his lap due to a recent incident. Something is up with insurance agent Jerry Walden and Caleb might have an answer or two if he just got on with it.

“Lucy’s Inferno” by Robb T. White comes next where Lucy is sent out by the jerk boss, Elliot Schwartzbach III, to a strip-mall in Northtown on Lake Erie. It burned and now the owner is in a rush for insurance to pay up. Lucy is an investigator and is very good at catching scammers, fraudsters, and the like. It isn’t the first time Lucy has had to go to Northtown so this trip is not going to be fun for a variety of reasons.

Just because the dead person was homeless and found by a dumpster does not mean the person was trash. Eddie Redmond certainly was not trash. He also was not a drug user so the needle still in his arm means it was a murder. Joe Moncrief intends to make sure everyone knows that fact and to catch the killer in “No One’s Trash” by Luke Foster. This story brings the entertaining issue to a close.

The Detective Issue of Guilty Crime story: Issue 4, Spring 2022 is a solidly good read. These stories are not light fluff. Instead, they have a whiff, and sometimes a much stronger scent, of noir running through each one. Detectives, with different styles and perceptions of what is right and wrong, are working in each case in a pursuit of what they see as justice. A lot is packed into each tale. No cardboard character cutouts need to apply. Well worth your time as are the previous issues of this magazine.

My reading copy was a purchase of the eBook earlier this month by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2022 show less

Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 5, Summer 2022 opens with “Blood Loss” by Trey R. Barker. Diane Cooper and John Blood knew each other way back in high school. They were very close. Especially their senior year. Now he is a private investigator, her daughter was raped and murdered, and Barefield PD has done nothing. She wants John Blood’s help to settle some scores in a tale where everyone has old wounds and lot of baggage.

It isn’t the first time Mr. Walker has suddenly become a show more widower. So, he is sort of used to talking to investigators. In “Tale of Two Wives” by Christine Eskilson, there were witnesses in the area this time when his wife fell to her death off the bluff so that fact should help.

When you are about to get bashed to pieces by folks who do not tolerate errors or failure, you get desperate. In “Edwin Gets an Idea” by Susan Oleksiw, the aforementioned Edwin is exactly in that situation. It is desperate times indeed. Edwin thinks that knowing something about a secret regarding a local art dealer might be worth avoiding further violence against his person.

Publisher and Editor Brandon Barrows is next with “Double or Nothing.” Ed Naden is a gambler and is not very good at it. Ed has a reputation as a dead beat gambler. Rackham has a reputation of not tolerating those who don’t pay their debts. Now he is hiding out in Marky’s bar as he owes eight grand and has no idea how he is going to pay the bill. One can see the obvious problem.

When you take retirement early and cash your IRA and stock in so that you can buy a magnificent old mansion overlooking Lake Erie, you want peace and quiet. You don’t want neighbors from hell. That is what he got in “A Mischief of Rats” by Robb White. Rex McCloskey and his kin are awful neighbors and they need to be permanently gone.

Wayne is on a mission to clean the world, one stripper at a time. He isn’t the only one on a mission in “Mercy Killings” by Marie Anderson.

It is going to be a meal from hell in “Lunch” by Dustin Walker. Barry makes every new buyer eat whatever he cooks as a test. Going in, the narrator tries to explain just how bad it is going to be to pass Barry’s test, but Mac is not getting it. The meal was the easy part. Things got way worse afterwards.

The issue concludes with the true crime piece by Anthony Perronti. “The Eden Prairie Heist” explains the facts around several armored car heists in the late 80s and early 90s where the thieves placed what appeared to be a bomb on the hood of the armored vehicle before fleeing the scene. A piece of history that does not get much notice these days.

Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 5, Summer 2022 is another with ranging issue of crime fiction. A lot is packed into each tale. No cardboard character cutouts need to apply. While I had my own personal preferences, variety is key, and there is plenty here to satisfy any reader.

My reading copy was a purchase of the eBook last summer by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.


Kevin R. Tipple © 2023 show less

Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 2, Fall 2021, opens with “At Fury Crossing” by Brent Spencer. Hella, a homeless vet, put her military skills to work to help Cliff. It was a job and nothing more. Now as she watches him get increasingly agitated outside the hotel known as “The Smiling Orchid,” she realizes she may have to get much more involved than she would like in order to again save lives.

Harlan had a skill to separate people from their money. The problem was that he talked show more big, but nothing ever came of it. Now he has gone and fled town and left Madison White holding the debt in “Newfound Gap” by Adam Leeder. They can’t find Harlan. They can find her and her son, Jackson, and mean to collect the money. One way or another.

Ted has to die in “Matter of Conscience” by Marie Anderson. Nancy met him at her sister’s wedding. She has her reasons why he must die that slowly become clear.

Editor Brandon Barrows is up next with “Between Friends.” Mike is tending bar, a gambler, and in a world of trouble. He needs a miracle. He might have found it in Mr. Steinberg. Surely Nr. Steinberg, who has known him for years, will help once he explains his problem in enough detail.

Abby took the shot in “No Recoil” by M. E. Proctor. A man is dead. The reasons why are at the heart of short this tale.

“Learning To Dream” by Stanton McCaffery comes next where life sometimes goes in unexpected ways. Graduating along with some other folks in the class of 2000, life is tough. Things escalate way worse when cancer and then a brutal accident strike the characters in this dark tale where the dream might be an illusion.

Crooked cops Lafitte and Asimov have messed up a deal as “Them Cops” by Anthony Neil Smith begins. Time for some payback. To do that, our narrator first needs an untraceable gun.

The issue closes with a nonfiction piece, “American Nightmare: The Noir Roots of Sandman Mystery Theatre” by Anthony Perconti. The essay considers the reboot of the Golden Age hero, the Sandman, as he works in a noir style landscape in a city in the throes of the Great Depression. It is an interesting piece.

Guilty Crime Story Magazine issue 2, Fall 2021, is another interesting read as was the first one. This issue is darker in tone and consistently more noirish, no matter how you define noir, than the first one.

This issue also has several formatting errors in the way it presented on my iPad. Some sentences started with two or three words and then had the rest of the sentence on the next line. While somewhat distracting, it was not that big of an issue though it may very much irritate some readers.

Regardless of that, the issue is a good one and well worth your time. Interesting characters, often dark and complicated situations, combine together to create tales well worth reading.

I picked this up recently to read and review.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2021 show less

This novel was a short, funny twist on gaming guides.

Every game in this book does not exist, which makes this book quite amusing. It is explaining cheats and how to progress through these games that were never made. Clearly some of these stories were parodying certain games on the market today, and that made it so much better. I have a few times where I wanted to chuckle at the stories and how they explained their games.

I definitely enjoyed this book! It's a short, cute read and it is show more definitely more of a comedy book. People who are fans of video games would appreciate this book a lot more than the average reader!

Four out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. show less