I am pleased to announce that my novel, When The Actor Inspired Chaos and Bloodshed, has been recognized as a 2026 Notable in the Indies Today Awards.
This distinction is particularly meaningful to me, as the Indies Today Awards highlight outstanding independent books across a wide range of genres.
When The Actor Inspired Chaos and Bloodshed Earns 2026 Notable in Indies Today Awards Read More »
As the author of the introduction to Robert Martin’s new double-novel collection from Stark House Press, I’m pleased to help bring attention to a writer whose talents deserve a wider audience. Martin, best known for his Jim Bennett mysteries, carved out a distinctive space in midcentury crime fiction, blending relentless plotting with a uniquely humane touch. While the genre’s classics are often defined by their cynicism, Martin’s work stands out for the flawed but deeply sympathetic detective at their heart.
Robert Martin Omnibus Read More »
Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: A MISSING-PERSON case sweeps private investigator Wendy Lu into the murky underbelly of Virginia Beach, a city where the lost and desperate slip through the cracks and justice remains a rare commodity.
In Broken Kite, Timothy J. Lockhart’s second Wendy Lu novel, he exposes the grim realities of human trafficking and the narrow margin between survival and ruin. Lockhart (pictured below), both a lawyer and former Navy intelligence officer, brings the weight of lived experience to his fiction.
Litchfield Reviews Broken Kite by Timothy J. Lockhart for the Lancashire Post Read More »
Richard Jessup was never content to stay in one genre—or even one type of story. Raised in an orphanage, he ran away to sea at thirteen and later dug cesspools and worked road gangs to feed his family. Writing was an act of grit and determination. Jessup hammered at his typewriter for ten hours a night, cycling through jobs as a merchant seaman, gambling dealer, and manual laborer. By age forty-seven, he had turned out hundreds of radio and TV scripts, seventy-five novels, and a fistful of film credits—sometimes under his own name, sometimes as Richard Telfair or Carey Rockwell.
Wolf Cop and Port Angelique Read More »
Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: A globe-trotting private investigator unravels thieving, murder and local vendettas while protecting a flame-haired heiress in The Red Tassel, an atmospheric thriller set amid betrayal, violence and the chill of the Bolivian Andes. First published in hardcover by Random House in 1950 and quickly reissued as a Dell paperback, David Dodge’s third and final case for the hard-nosed Al Colby is now back in print.
Litchfield Reviews The Red Tassel by David Dodge for the Lancashire Post Read More »
Reedsy Discovery released its roundup of the Best Mystery & Crime Books today, a list highlighting standout new titles in the genre, selected by experienced reviewers Twylla Johnson and Lorraine Cobcroft. Among the books featured is Hessman’s Necklace by Nicholas Litchfield.
Reedsy Discovery’s Best Mystery & Crime Books Features Hessman’s Necklace Read More »
Today, New York Times bestselling author James Reasoner—well known to readers for his many acclaimed Western novels and his long-running blog, Rough Edges—reviewed the latest Stark House collection, for which I was fortunate to write the introduction. Reasoner may be best recognized for his Westerns, but his passion for classic crime fiction and pulp literature shines through in his thoughtful reviews. Over the years, his blog has become a trusted resource for aficionados hoping to discover overlooked gems and forgotten classics from all corners of popular fiction.
Jack Webb Rediscovered with James Reasoner on Stark House Double Read More »
Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Complex puzzles, strange disappearances, unconventional murder techniques and spectral encounters abound in Tales of the Impossible, a standout collection of hard-hitting crime stories by Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini.
Across a literary career spanning more than fifty years, Pronzini has published ninety novels, four non-fiction books, twenty story collections, numerous anthologies, and scores of articles, essays, and reviews. And his work has been translated into nineteen languages and published in nearly thirty countries.
Litchfield Reviews Tales of the Impossible by Bill Pronzini for the Lancashire Post Read More »
Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: A newly minted partner at a prestigious law firm must fight for his reputation and freedom when he stands trial for his wife’s murder in Call the Witness, a taut 1960s crime novel steeped in small-town suspicion, legal intrigue, and simmering class tensions.
Litchfield Reviews Call the Witness by Edna Sherry for the Lancashire Post Read More »
Jack Webb isn’t a name that gets tossed around much these days, but back in the Fifties and early Sixties, he was a reliable source for sharp, fast-moving crime fiction. A Los Angeles native with a background as varied as his plots—aviary specialist, ad man, Army lieutenant—Webb hit his stride with a memorable run of novels featuring the unconventional team of Father Joseph Shanley and Detective Sergeant Sammy Golden. But his talents didn’t start or end with that duo.
This month, Stark House Press brings Webb back into the spotlight with a new double-novel collection: One For My Dame and The Deadly Combo. These are two of his best standalones, out of print for decades and ripe for rediscovery.
Jack Webb Double: One For My Dame & The Deadly Combo Read More »
