Picture of author.

Matthew J. Costello

Author of The Last Dinosaur

135+ Works 2,877 Members 128 Reviews

About the Author

Series

Works by Matthew J. Costello

The Last Dinosaur (2004) 155 copies
Masque (1998) 132 copies
Mirage (1996) 122 copies
Fire Below (1994) 100 copies
Murder on Thames (2013) 88 copies
Vacation (2011) 86 copies
Artifact (2003) 84 copies
A Shot in the Dark (2019) 68 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 1-3 (2014) 53 copies
The Island of the Skull (2005) 53 copies
The Wizard of Tizare (1989) 52 copies
The 7th Guest (1995) 47 copies
Beneath Still Waters (1989) 42 copies
Mystery at the Manor (2014) 41 copies
Doom 3: Worlds on Fire (2008) 35 copies
Fate's Trick (1988) 35 copies
Murder by Moonlight (2014) — Author — 32 copies
A Little Night Murder (2019) — Author — 31 copies
Unidentified (2002) 31 copies
Missing Monday (2004) 30 copies
Midsummer (1990) 30 copies
Home (2012) 30 copies
Homecoming (1992) 29 copies
Darkborn (1992) 29 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 4-6 (2015) — Author — 28 copies
Dead in the Water (2016) — Author — 27 copies
Wurm (1991) 27 copies
Secret Santa (2016) — Author — 27 copies
Thick as Thieves (2014) — Author — 26 copies
Rage (2011) 26 copies
Doom 3: Maelstrom (2009) 23 copies
The Last Puzzle (2015) — Author — 23 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 7-9 (2015) — Author — 22 copies
London Calling! (2019) — Author — 22 copies
Last Train to London (2014) — Author — 22 copies
Time of the Fox (1990) 21 copies
The Curse of Mabb's Farm (2014) — Author — 20 copies
A Lesson in Murder (2015) — Author — 19 copies
Murder Wore a Mask (2020) — Author — 19 copies
The Body in the Lake (2014) — Author — 17 copies
The Drowned Man (2018) — Author — 17 copies
A Dinner to Die For (2018) — Author — 17 copies
Deadly Cargo (2020) — Author — 17 copies
Blade in the Water (2014) — Author — 16 copies
A Deadly Confession (2014) — Author — 15 copies
Final Cut (2015) — Author — 15 copies
The Vanishing Tourist (2015) — Author — 15 copies
Death on a Summer Night (2014) 15 copies
Snowblind (2014) — Author — 15 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 10-12 (2017) — Author — 15 copies
Playing Dead (2014) — Author — 15 copies
The Gentleman Vanishes (2018) — Author — 14 copies
Ghost of a Chance (2015) — Author — 14 copies
A Death in the Family (2016) — Author — 14 copies
Final Challenge Game (1988) — Author — 14 copies
The Secret of Combe Castle (2015) — Author — 14 copies
Follow the Money (2015) — Author — 13 copies
Trail of Lies (2018) — Author — 13 copies
Death on a Moonlit Night (2017) — Author — 13 copies
Cliffhanger (2019) — Author — 13 copies
A Fatal Fall (2015) — Author — 13 copies
Death Trap (2018) — Author — 13 copies
Scared to Death (2017) — Author — 13 copies
Child's Play 2: A Novel (1990) 13 copies
Star Road (2014) 13 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 13-15 (2017) — Author — 12 copies
Day of the Snake (1992) 12 copies
The Body in the Woods (2017) — Author — 12 copies
The Song Never Dies (2015) — Author — 12 copies
Murder Most Wild (2015) — Author — 12 copies
Still Dead (2020) — Author — 12 copies
Killer Track (2021) — Author — 11 copies
The Wrong Man (2021) — Author — 11 copies
Killing Time (2020) — Author — 11 copies
See How She Runs (1994) 11 copies
Murder under the Sun (2020) — Author — 11 copies
A Bad Lie (2016) — Author — 11 copies
Too Many Lies (2019) — Author — 10 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 22-24 (2016) — Author — 10 copies
The Secret of Brimley Manor (2019) — Author — 10 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 19-21 (2016) — Author — 9 copies
Secrets on the Côte d'Azur (2021) — Author — 9 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 16-18 (2017) — Author — 9 copies
Hour of the Scorpion (1991) 8 copies
Child's Play 3: A Novel (1991) 8 copies
A Distant Voice (2021) — Author — 8 copies
Danger in the Air (2020) — Author — 8 copies
Cold Case (2021) — Author — 8 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 25-27 (2018) — Author — 7 copies
City Heat (2021) — Author — 7 copies
Hex: Escort to Hell (1986) 6 copies
No Place to Hide (2022) — Author — 6 copies
A Score to Settle (2022) — Author — 5 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 28-30 (2019) — Author — 5 copies
Garden (1993) 4 copies
In the Frame (2022) — Author — 4 copies
Family (2017) 4 copies
A Deadly Match (2023) — Author — 4 copies
Day One (2011) 4 copies
Dead of Night 4 copies
Fool's Gold (2022) 3 copies
Deadline (2023) 3 copies
Murder in the Dark (2023) 2 copies
Mydworth Mysteries 1-3 (2021) 2 copies
Cherringham: Episodes 5-6 (2022) — Author — 1 copy
Undercover 1 copy
In Dreams (2018) 1 copy

Associated Works

Hellboy: Odd Jobs (2003) — Contributor — 275 copies
Hottest Blood: The Ultimate in Erotic Horror (1993) — Contributor — 201 copies
The Best of Cemetery Dance, Volume 2 (2001) — Contributor — 99 copies
The Fantastic Adventures of Robin Hood (1991) — Contributor — 94 copies
Cat Crimes III (1992) — Contributor — 86 copies
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1992) — Contributor — 72 copies
The Ultimate Zombie (1993) — Contributor — 71 copies
Dangerous Interfaces (Time Gate, Vol. 2) (1990) — Contributor — 63 copies
Starfall (1999) — Contributor — 52 copies
Werewolves (1995) — Contributor — 49 copies
The Stories: Five Years of Original Fiction on tor.com (2013) — Contributor — 38 copies
Future Net (1996) — Contributor — 37 copies
Murder Most Feline: Cunning Tales of Cats and Crime (2001) — Contributor — 31 copies
Sea-Cursed: Thirty Terrifying Tales of the Deep (1994) — Contributor — 31 copies
Phantoms of the Night (1996) — Contributor — 30 copies
October Dreams II (Anthology) (2016) — Contributor — 29 copies
Gothic Ghosts (1997) — Contributor — 22 copies
Murder Most Postal: Homicidal Tales That Deliver a Message (2001) — Contributor; Contributor — 22 copies
Great Writers and Kids Write Spooky Stories (1995) — Contributor — 19 copies
Gauntlet: Media Manipulation, No 4 (1993) — Contributor — 15 copies
Open Space no. 3 (1990) — Contributor — 9 copies

Tagged

2018 (19) age-adult (29) anthology (197) audible (95) audio (46) audiobook (99) cats (19) Cherringham (87) costello (21) cozy (48) crime (50) ebook (37) England (74) fantasy (91) fiction (300) Hellboy (33) horror (261) Jack Brennan (21) Kindle (31) magazine (42) mystery (220) own (72) paperback (23) read (87) read in 2018 (20) Richards (54) RPG (23) Sarah Edwards (21) science fiction (209) sf (57) SF Magazine (24) short fiction (30) short stories (133) small town (37) thriller (24) to-read (230) uk-england (30) unread (27) writing (25) zombies (19)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

A solid horror thriller. Not a lot of scares but a decent plot.
 
Flagged
ChrisBakke | May 22, 2024 |
Not too much original, here.
 
Flagged
zot79 | 2 other reviews | Aug 20, 2023 |
I have read and loved each book in this series. They are entertaining, interesting, and filled with memorable characters – even the villains. They have humor and snappy banter, and frankly, Harry and Kat remind me a bit of Nick and Nora Charles from The Thin Man movies from the 1930s. If you want a quick, engaging, interesting read, you can’t go wrong with any of the books in this series.

Sir Harry Mortimer and his American-born wife Kat are summoned to Harry’s Aunt Lavinia’s house in the wee hours of the morning. As former spies for their respective countries, Harry and Kat are well qualified to investigate a murder – especially one that involves Edward, the Prince of Wales. OOPS! Any public knowledge of the event must be avoided – especially since Edward is the most scandal-prone of Royals. So, the victim disappears and the house party continues as if nothing ever happened – except there are now two new guests – Harry and Kat.

With a house full of guests and with each guest full of secrets, how will Harry and Kat ever sort through them all before the end of the party? Can they truly keep the fact there was a murder secret? With everyone playing musical bed chambers, nobody was where they were supposed to be – and since the murder didn’t happen where the body was found – who was occupying the room in which it did happen?

You’ll have a delightful time delving into all of those deep, dark secrets with Harry and Kat before you and they come up with the villain of the piece. Then, for an exciting finale you get kidnappings, hold-your-breath car chases, daring escape attempts, and a satisfying resolution.

I can definitely recommend this delightful book because it is witty, entertaining, and filled with delightful characters you will come to appreciate. While all of the books can be read as standalone titles, I would suggest reading at least the first book or two in the series to understand Kat, Harry, and their backgrounds. Happy reading!
… (more)
 
Flagged
BarbaraRogers | Jul 12, 2023 |
I don't think I've ever read a video game novelization before. It's odd, because so many scenes clearly mapped to a kind of gameplay I can visualize.

The book lacked a good final boss, though.
 
Flagged
3Oranges | 1 other review | Jun 24, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
135
Also by
35
Members
2,877
Popularity
#8,905
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
128
ISBNs
299
Languages
8

Charts & Graphs