Mark Stevens

http://www.writermarkstevens.com

Mark Stevens is the Denver-based author of the Allison Coil Mystery Series: Antler Dust, Trapline, Buried by the Roan, Lake of Fire, and The Melancholy Howl.

The series, set in the Flat Tops Wilderness of Western Colorado, has drawn upbeat reviews from The Denver Post, Kirkus Reviews, Mystery Scene Magazine, The Grand Junction Sentinel, The Aspen Times, High Country News, The Durango Herald, The Loveland Herald, and more. Kirkus Reviews called The Melancholy Howl “smart and indelible.” Trapline won the 2015 Colorado Book Award for best mystery and the 2015 Colorado Authors League award in genre fiction.

Mr. Stevens is president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. He is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Western Writers of America (he was named 2016 Writer of the Year), and the Colorado Authors League. Stevens spent 20 years in journalism before starting a career in public relations.  

Books by Mark Stevens

Book Reviews by Mark Stevens

Image of The Last of the Stanfields
Author(s):
Marc Levy
Genre(s):
Westerns, Women Sleuths

The Last of the Stanfields

January 6, 2019
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

“Amusing at times, nostalgic and wistful at others, The Last of the Stanfields is a long and winding road.”

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Image of Vancouver Noir (Akashic Noir Series)
Author(s):
Genre(s):
Anthology

Vancouver Noir (Akashic Noir Series)

November 5, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

As David Byrne asserted in the classic Talking Heads song “Cities,” in which he crooned a series of quirky observations about various towns in hopes of finding a place to live, “there’s good points

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Image of The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
Author(s):
Lyndsay Faye
Genre(s):
Detective, Short Stories, Anthologies

The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes

March 6, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

"Faye’s prose seduces readers . . ."

Writer Michael Sims, on a recent New York Times Book Review podcast, called Sherlock Holmes the “first modern super hero.”

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Image of Everything You Want Me to Be: A Novel
Author(s):
Mindy Mejia
Genre(s):
Suspense

Everything You Want Me to Be: A Novel

January 2, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

Everything You Want Me to Be starts in March 2008 with young runaway Hattie studying the departures board at the Minneapolis airport.

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Image of My Bad: A Mile High Noir
Author(s):
Manuel Ramos
Genre(s):
Mystery & Thriller

My Bad: A Mile High Noir

October 31, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

My Bad is Manuel Ramos’ fun follow-up to Desperado from 2013, which won the Colorado Book Award for best mystery.

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Image of The Homeplace: A Mystery
Author(s):
Kevin Wolf
Genre(s):
Mystery & Thriller

The Homeplace: A Mystery

September 5, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

"What’s hard to believe is that The Homeplace is the work of a previously unpublished writer . . . "

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Image of Hot Start (Cordell Logan Mystery) (A Cordell Logan Mystery)
Author(s):
David Freed
Genre(s):
Amateur Sleuths, International Settings

Hot Start

August 30, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

Packed with rim-shot snappy dialogue and sharply barbed observations, David Freed’s Hot Start is a tasty romp featuring irascible and the uber-jaded Cordell Logan.

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Image of Brussels Noir (Akashic Noir)
Editor(s):
Michel Dufranne
Genre(s):
Noir, Anthology

Brussels Noir (Akashic Noir)

August 1, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

“these 13 stories will ‘take you for a ride.’”

Akashic Books deserves kudos for their fine service to noir.

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Image of Go-Between
Author(s):
Lisa Brackmann
Genre(s):
Crime Mystery & Thriller, International Settings

Go-Between

July 4, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

“Go-Between is a perfect title.”

Michelle Mason is between lives, between names, between worlds, between versions of herself.

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Image of Missing, Presumed: A Novel (Manon Bradshaw)
Author(s):
Susie Steiner
Genre(s):
Crime Mystery & Thriller, Detective, Literary Fiction

Missing, Presumed: A Novel

June 27, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

“Missing, Presumed is a wonderful, memorable read . . .”

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Image of The Girls
Author(s):
Emma Cline
Genre(s):
Literary Fiction, Mystery & Thriller, Psychological Thriller

The Girls: A Novel

June 13, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

“rich, well-told, and memorable.”

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Image of Brighton: A Novel
Author(s):
Michael Harvey
Genre(s):
Crime Mystery & Thriller, Suspense, Literary Fiction

Brighton: A Novel

June 13, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

Brighton starts and ends in the Charles River.

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Image of Mortal Fall: A Novel of Suspense (Glacier Mystery Series)
Author(s):
Christine Carbo
Genre(s):
Fiction

Mortal Fall: A Novel of Suspense

May 30, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

Mortal Fall unfolds against the powerful backdrop of Montana’s Glacier National Park, the same setting Christine Carbo used for her debut The Wild Inside.

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Image of A Brilliant Death
Author(s):
Robin Yocum
Genre(s):
Historical, Mystery & Thriller, Mystery & Thriller, Historical

A Brilliant Death

April 4, 2016
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

Robin Yocum’s A Brilliant Death and William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace tread on similar turf—the 1960s, middle America, the meaning of family and coming of age.

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Image of The Ex: A Novel
Author(s):
Alafair Burke
Genre(s):
Crime Mystery & Thriller, Suspense

The Ex: A Novel

December 31, 2015
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

“a nifty bit of fine suspense.”

Briskly told and packed with plot, The Ex rocks.

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Image of Cambodia Noir: A Novel
Author(s):
Nick Seeley
Genre(s):
Noir

Cambodia Noir: A Novel

March 14, 2015
Reviewed by: 
Mark Stevens

It’s worth noting that Cambodia Noir is not one of the “noir” short story anthologies from Akashic Books (Prison Noir, New Orleans Noir, Twin Cities Noir, etc).

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