Blood Lust and Crime Solving, in HANGMAN from Jack Heath

Jack Heath (a pen name) is an Australian writer of a lot of books for kids -- and HANGMAN is the exception to his routine, a most-definitely-for-adults thriller that steps onto the stage often occupied by dark, frightening criminals like Dexter, or Garry Disher's Wyatt.  Except --

Except that FBI consultant Timothy Blake, who's been slaking his peculiar thirst with a deal that keeps him solving crimes for the officials in his life, is struggling to deal with a crime-solving partner for the first time, a woman who works for the FBI as a professional. When he discovers how easily he connects with this other crime solver (who has no idea of his dirty deal, or his tastes), he's caught in the classic really-shouldn't-bite-that-pretty neck dilemma of many a vampire in far more romantic situations.

And with that thread, Jack Heath has formed the triangle of forces working on and in his protagonist: a hunger for human flesh, a mind well shaped to investigation and intuitive grasp of crime, and a heart that's unexpectedly pushing into his affairs.

There are many "ugh" moments in this crime novel -- made worthwhile by Blake's first-person narrative and his battles to both stay alive and in some way stay on the right side of his own blood-drawn lines:

An hour later the bones and tendons have dissolved. I pick up a twisted wire coathanger and dip the hook into the acid. After a bit of fumbling, I've found the plug and pulled it out. ...

As I watch the dead man disappear down the plughole in a grey-brown whirlpool, like the Ambulance Killer before him, I feel like I should say something. A brief eulogy. A few kind words.

But when I eventually get caught and executed, no one will say anything nice about me.

Obviously this book won't suit all tastes. But I found it compelling, found myself hoping Blake could redeem his life, or his ways, or at least his investigation. If you often read the dark side, try HANGMAN. Jack Heath is well worth reading.

And this quirky offering comes from Hanover Square Press, home of an astoundingly wide range of innovative crime fiction.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Zingers and Twists, in TINY CRIMES: VERY SHORT TALES OF MYSTERY & MURDER

It's almost release day (which will be June 1), so I'm jumping in with another enthusiastic recommendation (if you read mystery reviews, you've seen some already!) for TINY CRIMES, a compact, neatly designed, and very, very enjoyable set of extra-short stories, aka flash fiction, that set out mysteries, suspense, crime, or astonishing darkness. It's as if editors Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Neito skimmed the best and strangest tales from all the strongest mystery magazines going, and packed them into this intense block of well-designed illustrated pages. Thirty-nine of them.

Many are written by specialists in the short story form -- which isn't my usual area of reading, so the names of the authors were new to me, although their credits at the back of the book are fierce and impressive. Two particularly thrilled me: a New England tale well spun by Elizabeth Hand, and an unforgettable surreal one from Japanese noir novelist Fuminori Nakamura. I also like the one from Paul La Farge, which begins "The next to last time I saw Polanski" (talk about classic!), and couldn't stop marveling (with dark chuckles) at "Hygge" by Dorthe Nors.

Treat yourself. As far as I can tell, there's only one drawback to buying this book: You won't want to pass it along to a friend ... because there's always going to be a moment when you think "That story I liked so much, I should read it again" -- and this one's going to have to stay on your shelf. Or even on the bedside table.

From Black Balloon, published by Catapult. Good stuff.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.