Sam Jenkins Mystery Series fans are in for a special treat with From New York To The Smokies, a five short story anthology collection that spans four decades of Sam's life and career.

Author Wayne Zurl weaves a wonderful collection of short stories that begins in 1963 with seventeen year old Sam in The Boat to Prison, where he tries to stop his father from going to jail by foiling a mobster's plot to kill a Long Island union leader. Then fast forward to 1985 in Favors, where Sam is a Lieutenant on the NYPD, and he unofficially investigates an employee's lack of enthusiasm at being promoted to a police officer, which leads to an uncovering of a history of unreported crimes, and Sam's attempt to take care of one of his own. When Sam retires from the NYPD, he and wife Kate pack up and move to the Great Smoky Mountain small town of Prospect, Tennessee. But Sam's retirement doesn't last long when he takes on the position of Chief of Police for the Prospect Police Department, and madcap adventures abound in Angels of the Lord, Massacre at Big Bear Creek, and Ode to Willie Joe. With UFO sightings, a serial killer on the loose, and longstanding feuds among the mountain folk, Sam and his motley crew of officers are bound to keep the reader in stitches as they follow their latest zany adventures of keeping the peace and law and order in Prospect.

This anthology collection is perfect for readers who have not had a chance to meet the charming main character, Sam Jenkins. Sam is a sarcastic guy who has no problem saying exactly what he's thinking: his quick wit, sense of humor, friendly banter and sweet flirty side keeps the reader laughing out loud as every story unfolds.

Author Wayne Zurl has a knack for weaving intriguing mystery / police procedural tales with a witty mixture of humor, intrigue, drama and suspense. He utilizes his prior extensive knowledge and experience of police procedure to create a series that diehard of mystery / detective fans will crave to read.

So take it from a Sam Jenkins groupie and read From New York To The Smokies. I guarantee that once you read the anthology collection, you will get hooked on all of the Sam Jenkins Mystery series. It is simply an addicting whodunit mystery series that will turn mystery fans into Sam Jenkins fans!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the anthology collection from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour hosted by Pump Up Your Book.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour for a fair and honest review and rated it 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour and rated it 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

A new addition to an established series of short stories, From New York to the Smokies by Wayne Zurl, is a good introduction to the Sam Jenkins series. An intelligent, morally upright hero, colorful secondary characters, good mysteries and the right amount of action kept my attention from the start to finish. Fans of mystery books and police procedurals will definitely want to give this anthology a try.

Mr. Zurl does a good job introducing us to Samuel “Sam” Jenkins and developing his character throughout the book. We first meet Sam as a young seventeen year old who is determined to keep his father from doing something stupid that could land him in jail and at the same time is trying to decide what direction he wants to take in life. As you read from the first short story, The Boat to Prison, through the other four stories in the book, you discover that Sam pretty much followed the plans he made as a young man throughout the rest of his life; he joined the army, became a cop when he came home from Vietnam, and married his high school sweetheart Kate. You also get to see that while he has a strong moral character and is dedicated to following the law, his need to help others and his natural compassion temper the officer he becomes.

Since I’ve never read any of the Sam Jenkins short stories this was a perfect introduction to Mr. Zurl’s easy and straight forward writing style and character development. Using his own years of experience as a big city police officer, Mr. Zurl adds just the right amount of criminality to his stories without going over the top or becoming excessively violent or getting too bloody. An almost perfect procedural, in terms of police behavior, the human element is never far from Sam’s job performance and it was nice to see the “man” behind the badge.

Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable selection of short stories and a perfect introduction into a series I will want to read more of. If you want to start a new police series or have read some of the Sam Jenkins books and want to know how Sam’s story begins, I happily recommend picking up a copy of From New York to the Smokies and giving it a try. ( )