Keith Hirshland

May 1, 2022

Book Review: Song Girl: A Mystery in Two Verses Paperback by Keith Hirshland

Detective Marc Allen is ready to leave the Raleigh, North Carolina, Police Department. Two murders that happened on his watch have apparently been solved thanks to a suicide note confession written by a distraught father. But Allen isn’t buying it. He’s convinced that the man’s adopted daughter, Teri Hickox, is the one responsible for the heinous crimes. With his personal life a muddle and his professional career unsettled he decides the best thing for him is a change of scenery. The detective, now in Colorado Springs, is working new cases and making new friends. One of those friends is Hannah Hunt who, after suffering a freak accident, finds herself only able to speak in song titles. Another is a mysterious drifter who lives out of an old Dodge van and goes by “the champ”. But as Allen builds a new future, events unfold showing him that he can’t escape his past.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

‘Song Girl’ is a highly entertaining, fast-paced and engaging read. The author did a great job at detailing the scenes and the characters, literally bringing you into the scenes with the vivid descriptions of characters and emotions behind them. The main character, Detective Allen is a resilient man who goes after his instincts despite having issues in his personal and professional lives. We soon see him making new friends and trying to step out of the environment he is used to being in. That is when he sees a girl who is able to speak only in song titles, due to a freak accident. He is also forced to face the evil female antagonist in order to resolve a crime. An entertaining mystery read overall!

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June 27, 2020

Book Review: Murphy Murphy: And The Case of Serious Crisis by Keith Hirshland

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Murphy Murphy comes from a long line of male Murphys. All were named Murphy and all were cops. This Murphy heads the Department of Redundancy Department and his superior officer, Captain David “Dud” Hill has found him a case. The Captain’s niece is in a rock ‘n roll band called Serious Crisis, and it seems items belonging to members of the band have started to disappear.

Were these items stolen? Were they simply lost? As Murphy Murphy works the case, he must chase down the clues all the while dealing with grammatical anomalies that drive him crazy. As Murphy gets closer to the answers he seeks, one more “thing” goes missing; the Captain’s niece. Suddenly, in an instant, the stakes in the case of Serious Crisis become a lot more dire.

Part Jasper Fforde, part Michael Connelly; Murphy Murphy, and the Case of Serious Crisis combines humor, mystery, and grammar goofs as the detective pursues clues and suspects from coast to coast. It’s an entertaining and educational read for all ages.

I wouldn’t lie, I had to re-read most of the sentences in the book due to the heavy wordplay in the book, which made me think a lot as well. Learning that the author is a television producer and an Emmy award recepient as well with over three decades of experience, one could easily tell why this book is old-fashioned. It would definitely remind you of TV shows like “Mind Your Language” and the witty characters in the book, especially the protagonist reminds me of Sheldon Cooper from “The Big Bang Theory” show.

A genre that is usually serious is made funny and entertaining, just like the old-fashioned way of storytelling. A five star for this well thought out book. A great job! I am now curious to check out the TV shows the author produced before this!