Acoustic Music, Reading Dangerously (AKA Murder Mysteries), Recommended Readings, Saturday Soundtrack
Published on October 31, 2026
Leave a Comment

A Hallowe’en bonus treat for lovers of a good witness protection thriller

written by

Anna Scotti’s “It’s Not Even Past”—a brilliantly conceived set of murder mysteries featuring a librarian on the run—has just been re-published this fall after the original publisher closed its doors.

With Hallowe’en on the horizon I spent part of October reading murder mysteries. Now that the day has arrived I have a special treat: news of the re-publication of a wonderful “witness protection thriller.” Crippen & Landru released It’s Not Even Past with a new cover (by Christian Gibson) and a new introduction earlier this month.

It’s Not Even Past (originally published in 2025; newly republished in 2026) by Anna Scotti is a brilliantly conceived set of murder mysteries involving the librarian originally known as Lori Yarborough. Lori moves through several aliases, multiple locations across the U.S., and a variety of rather menial jobs in order to stay a step ahead of her ruthless ex and his cartel henchmen. In each place our protagonist has an uncanny ability to find herself in the midst of trouble and murder; her ingenuity in solving those crimes inevitably forces her to move on, often to a new city with a new WITSEC-provided identity. Nine of the eleven chapters were originally published as short stories in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine where they received wide critical acclaim. In this wonderfully crafted work those original stories are book-ended with two new pieces, the first to help set up Lori/Cam’s saga and then the final one which adds a coda to this part of her life after the years have so fundamentally changed this once naive librarian.

You can read my full original review from 2025 here.

Later that year, Anna answered my questions about the book and murder mysteries in general in a well-received Author Q&A, which you can read here. When I began the interview by asking how she became interested in murder mysteries, here was part of Anna’s reply:

“I’ve always loved reading mysteries―my mother would pass along her Agatha Christie and Elizabeth George paperbacks when she’d finished, and my dad his Dick Francis racetrack novels. My sister and I would fight over them, along with Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines, which came out monthly back in the day.”

Do yourself a favor and order this book. You’ll thank me for it.

My years of reading dangerously

As I have explained before, I didn’t begin reading murder mysteries until I retired and the pandemic hit. Since then I’ve tried to make up for lost time, always including several from the genre as part of my intention to read “five books per month.”

Here’s an up-to-date list by year with links to my reviews. A couple are more historical fiction than traditional murder mysteries, but I’ve included them here since somebody dies along the way. You can also find the full list with links in the Reading Dangerously (AKA Murder Mysteries) category of MORE TO COME.

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026 (Through October)

AND A MUSICAL TREAT

Because Hallowe’en falls on Saturday, let’s end with a few special musical treats selected just for the holiday. Nina Simone does her usual masterful job with the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins hit I Put a Spell on You. That is followed by Elise LeGrow breaking the Bo Diddley classic Who Do You Love “down to a new set of bare bones. Watch her rasping howl bring ‘a tombstone hand and a graveyard mind’ to life.”

Next, let’s turn to Rhiannon Giddens with a version of O Death from her album, They’re Calling Me Home. Giddens, with partner Francesco Turrisi, base this version on singing by Bessie Jones of the Georgia Sea Island Singers. As the Bluegrass Situation (BGS) site notes, it is a good reminder of “just how much of American music and culture are entirely thanks to the contributions of Black folks.”

To wrap up, let’s turn to one of the most haunting versions of The Unquiet Grave recorded by my favorite Irish band, Solas. And this snippet from the lyrics give a hint of what’s to come.

One kiss, one kiss of your lily white lips, one kiss is all I crave
One kiss, one kiss of your lily white lips and return back to your grave…”

Well, you get the idea. Give it a listen.

Have a spooky Hallowe’en!

More to come . . .

DJB

Photo of a mysterious street by Adrien Brunat on Unsplash

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.