Tag Archives: mystery

Review – Identity Unknown by Patricia Cornwell @1pcornwell #netgalley #grandcentralpublishing

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MY REVIEW

Kay Scarpetta has been around long enough, that many of the characters are familiar to me. I have enjoyed each and every moment with them. I want to thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Identity Unknown by Patricia Cornwell.

An abandoned amusement park.

A mutilated body.

A message sent.

Kay Scarpetta finds out the victim is someone she knows. Someone she once loved. Sal Giordano. I do like when an author isn’t afraid to kill off a character that I know, as long as it enhances the story. This death hits very close to home for Kay.

Mystery surrounds Sal Giordano’s death. Does it involve aliens? Just your run of the mill human murderer? Or could it be someone from their past getting their revenge?

Identity Unknown by Patricia Cornwell seemed different from the usual Kay Scarpetta novels, but may I’ve just missed too many to see the storyline clearly. Either way, I enjoyed my time with the characters. The mystery is deep, complex, and I didn’t see what was coming.

I found it hard to rate Identity Unknown. I wanted to love it, but I couldn’t quite get there. Whether it’s the or me, I can’t say. I will say this, if you are a Kay Scarpetta and Patricia Cornwell fan, I recommend reading Identity Unknown

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Stars

4 GOODREADS BLURB

Autopsies can reveal the secrets of the dead.

And this victim is sending Scarpetta a message…

Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is a man she once loved. While teaching in Rome during the early days of her career, Scarpetta had an intense love affair with Sal Giordano that led to a lifelong friendship.

The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body, and Giordano’s skin is strangely red. Scarpetta’s niece Lucy believes he was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows an autopsy can reveal the dead’s secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue.

As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . .

  • Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
  • 400 pages, Hardcover
  • Expected publication October 8, 2024 by Grand Central Publishing
  • Series: Kay Scarpetta, #28

ABOUT PATRICIA CORNWELL

Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, in 1990 while working as a computer analyst at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. Postmortem, was the first bona fide forensic thriller. It paved the way for an explosion of entertainment featuring in all things forensic across film, television and literature.

Postmortem would go on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize – the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. To date, Cornwell’s books have sold some 100 million copies in thirty-six languages in over 120 countries. She’s authored twenty-nine New York Times bestsellers.

Patricia’s novels center primarily on medical examiner Kay Scarpetta along with her tech-savvy niece Lucy and fellow investigator Pete Marino. Celebrating 25 years, these characters have grown into an international phenomenon, winning Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.

Fox 2000 bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta. Working with producer Liz Friedman, Marvel’s Jessica Jones and fellow Marvel EP and Twilight Saga scribe Melissa Rosenberg to develop the film and find Scarpetta a home on the big screen.

After earning her degree in English from Davidson College in 1979, she began working at the Charlotte Observer.

Cornwell received widespread attention and praise for her series of articles on prostitution and crime in downtown Charlotte. From the Charlotte Observer, Cornwell moved to a job with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia – a post she would later bestow upon the fictional Kay Scarpetta.

When not writing from her Boston home, Patricia tirelessly researches cutting-edge forensic technologies to include in her work. Her interests span outside the literary: Patricia co-founded of the Conservation Scientist Chair at the Harvard University Art Museums. She appears as a forensic consultant on CNN and serves as a member of Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital’s National Council, where she advocates for psychiatric research. She’s helped fund the ICU at Cornell’s Animal Hospital, the scientific study of a Confederate submarine, the archaeological excavation of Jamestown, and a variety of law enforcement charities. Patricia is also committed to
funding scholarships and literacy programs. Her advice to aspiring authors: “Start writing. And don’t take no for an answer.”


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Review – I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong #netgalley #illbewaiting

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MY REVIEW

I’ll Be Waiting is one of the best Kelley Armstrong novels I have read in some time.

“I’ll Be Waiting”, were some of Anton’s last words. Nicola had thought their short time together would be because of her illness, Cystic Fibrosis. She cannot accept that he is gone, so she hops from one seance to another.

Don’t we all know, don’t go in the basement. Yet, she does.

I didn’t trust the right person and did trust the wrong person. That’s some great writing. Sucked me right in.

I love that Kelley Armstrong had my head spinning. I couldn’t figure out if Nicola was being played or if it was true. I do love a convoluted ghost story. One that I am not able to figure out for myself. I was fooled and when I found the truth, I loved the book all the more. It’s nice to be surprised. I couldn’t figure out who to trust and was sucked into the ghostly mystery.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

From New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood…

Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future… together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.

Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.

The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter…in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.

That’s when she finds the first body….

In this atmospheric, thrilling new ghost story, Kelley Armstrong’s full talents are on display to thrill, chill and leave the reader guessing how Nicola escapes with her life–if she can.

  • Genre: Ghosts, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
  • 336 pages, Hardcover
  • Expected publication October 1, 2024 by St Martin’s Press

ABOUT KELLEY ARMSTRONG

Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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$25 GC – Rabbit Moon by Jan D Payne @xpressotours

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Rabbit Moon
Jan D. Payne
Publication date: September 17th 2024
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

They say you can’t go back home, but Marin Sinclair, end-of-life doula, doesn’t expect her life to be in danger when she answers a mysterious plea for help from a long-ago friend and returns to Dinetah, the Navajo Nation. Her past there holds memories she is reluctant to confront, but what about her life then would make someone want to kill her?

Navajo Nation Police Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes shares a connection with Marin from the past, and he has a few questions of his own when Marin disappears―such as why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agents investigating the abandoned uranium mines on the reservation and how Marin is connected.

Marin needs to survive to find any answers, and to do so she is forced to run, going off the grid on her own in the Lukachukai mountains with unknown killers close behind.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

The Bilagaana woman’s eyes were wide and staring, and even if she wasn’t a ghost-witch Haastiin Sani thought maybe she was crazy. Only someone crazy would have been out here alone in the dark and the rain. Crazy people must be treated with care, and the same for ghost-witches. It didn’t help to make them angry.

He looked at the woman, considering.

She was trembling now, as if cold, but witches and crazy people both were known to be clever. The sooner he saw her off the better, and he jerked his chin toward the direction of his camp and motioned the woman to follow. He would show her every hospitality and then gently nudge her on her way.

She looked somewhat better when he gave her a cup of hot coffee and offered the frybread his daughter had left for him, inviting her with a nod to take it, and tears came into her eyes as her lips and chin began to tremble.

Very much like a normal person, but it could be a ruse to cause him to relax his vigilance so she could blow corpse dust over him. He busied himself with the fire and wished fervently to be rid of this evil.

Marin knew she made this man very uncomfortable, and she thought she even knew why, considering where and how he had found her, but she didn’t know how to relieve his fears without making things worse.

“Thank you,” Marin murmured to the old man. “Ahéhee’,” she repeated.

She studied the man on the other side of the fire. His face was seamed and wrinkled, his frame was tall and spare beneath the loose shirt of red cotton tied with a woven sash. His gray hair was worn long, and there was a turquoise bead woven into a strand of hair near one temple.

A hogan was built higher up the slope, a blanket hanging across the eastern door, and an empty sheep pen was tucked into a rocky cliff a short way from it. A handsome bay horse wearing a rope halter stood nearby, sheltering under overhanging boards propped between a few corral poles and the cliff.

She looked around for the sheep she knew must be somewhere close by, and the dogs, but they weren’t in sight. She didn’t see any sort of vehicle either, or any other person besides the old man, watching her surreptitiously.

The old man cleared his throat suddenly, and she flinched, startled, but instead of speaking, the old man rose to his feet and walked toward the corral.

She stood as well, thinking he meant for her to follow, but he gave no sign, and she paused.

Passing Marin without word or look, he ducked under the hogan’s blanket door, emerging a moment later with an ancient-looking saddle, a bridle, and a thick saddle blanket woven in red and black yarns.

Silently, he began to saddle the horse, smoothing the blanket across the horse’s back and throwing the saddle over, pulling the cinch tight. He put the bridle on last, settling the bit into the horse’s mouth before reaching to adjust the braided ear straps. Without looking at her, he walked back, thrust the reins towards Marin, and spoke for the first time.

“You go now,” he said, and pursed his lips, pushing his chin toward the east.

Marin opened her mouth to object to taking his horse and slowly closed it again. The old man was giving her a way to get down the mountain, and she had no wish to bring trouble to him if Tolliver managed to follow her here.

She took the reins.

Haastiin Sanii grunted and stepped away toward the fire, and Marin tied her jacket to the saddle, surprised when he returned and pushed the remainder of the frybread into her hands.

“Over there,” he said, pointing again with his chin, “is a good way down.”

She waited for any more words the man might offer, for he seemed to be listening and thinking carefully, but he said nothing. He slapped the horse on the rump and stepped away.

“You go now,” he repeated.

Marin mounted, then turned in the saddle. “I’ll leave the horse at a trading post below,” she said.

Haastiin Sanii shrugged, relieved, as he watched her ride away. She was someone in a lot of trouble or someone bringing a lot of trouble, but he had done the best he could.

He looked down at his sash and fingered the gun he had found beside the spring, then looked down the trail at the woman on his grandson’s horse. He wondered if she knew a flashflood was coming and if she knew enough to stay out of the canyon.

He shrugged again, figured a ghost-witch would know and a crazy person wouldn’t care.

Author Bio:

Drawing from her years in the Southwest and the Navajo Nation, Jan Payne writes on themes of courage, regret, hope, and restoration in a world of created kinships. Through her characters’ lives and shared dangers—Marin Sinclair, end-of-life doula; Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes of the Navajo Nation Police; Cullen MacPherson, agent for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Garret Washburn, teenaged ward of Marin’s, and Lewis George, Raven spirit-guide-cum-trickster—she takes readers on a journey through the complex interactions of cultural backgrounds and personal histories, highlighting the way kinships forged in crisis have the power to reshape our lives.

Jan Payne lived on the Dineh (Navajo) reservation in Sanostee, on the New Mexico side of the Lukachukai mountain range, where she spent summers climbing mesas, taking camping trips on horseback, exploring ghost towns in the mountains of Colorado, or working with her dad breaking and training horses in Sanostee. Her two most memorable summer jobs were at a Durango, Colorado dude ranch working with pack mule trains and a brief stint as a camp cook at a uranium mining site.

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Library Love – Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea @CharlieDonlea

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MY REVIEW

Sidney Ryan has chosen to do a twelve week documentary on Grace Sebold, who was accused of killing her boyfriend on Spring Break. Charlie Donlea let me think I knew what’s happening, but I was so wrong. I knew it wouldn’t be the simple answer, but Charlie took me somewhere I didn’t see coming. I did have a hunch about one character and that panned out, but there is so much more to the story. By the time I got halfway through I saw I was getting more than I bargained for in this psychological thriller.

If you are looking for a complex, unputdownable mystery, pick up a copy of Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea.

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4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

The Girl of Sugar Beach is the most watched documentary in television history—a riveting, true-life mystery that unfolds over twelve weeks and centers on a fascinating question: Did Grace Sebold murder her boyfriend, Julian, while on a Spring Break vacation, or is she a victim of circumstance and poor police work? Grace has spent the last ten years in a St. Lucian prison, and reaches out to filmmaker Sidney Ryan in a last, desperate attempt to prove her innocence.

As Sidney begins researching, she uncovers startling evidence overlooked during the original investigation. Before the series even finishes filming, public outcry leads officials to reopen the case. 

Delving into Grace’s past, Sidney peels away layer after layer of deception. But as she edges closer to the real heart of the story, Sidney must decide if finding the truth is worth risking her newfound fame, her career … even her life.

  • Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller
  • 402 pages, Kindle Edition
  • First published May 29, 2018 by Pinnacle Books

ABOUT CHARLIE DONLEA

Charlie Donlea is the USA TODAY and #1 Internationally bestselling author of SUMMIT LAKE, THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN, DON’T BELIEVE IT, SOME CHOOSE DARKNESS, THE SUICIDE HOUSE, TWENTY YEARS LATER, and THOSE EMPTY EYES. His eighth thriller, LONG TIME GONE, explores the science of forensic genealogy and will be released in June 2024.

His books have been translated into twenty languages across nearly forty countries. He resides in Chicago with his wife and two children.

He spends a part of each year fishing with his father in the far reaches of Canada, where the roads end and lakes are accessible only by floatplane. These majestic trips to “God’s Country” inspired the setting for his first novel, Summit Lake.

Website

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$20 GC – In The MIdst Of Shadows by Nicol Italia @xpressotours

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In the Midst of Shadows
Nicola Italia
Genres: Adult, Historical, Mystery

In the Victorian era, a cheap and popular form of entertainment has entranced the population often known by the name; penny dreadful. Costing a penny, readers purchased the stories and entered the fantastic world of superhuman men and damsels in distress.

The stories have been popular for over fifty years and Lavinia Howard is a young woman who dreams of being such a writer. Having recently lost her father, she turns to a family friend who puts her in touch with Jasper Courtenay, owner of Courtenay Publishing.

Writing under the pen name G. R. Howard, Lavinia creates a character who becomes a huge success as her penny dreadful stories are the most popular ever printed. Her character is brash and obnoxious and has no respect for authority as he solves London murders and the working classes adore him!

But strange things begin to happen as the stories Lavinia writes start to come true. Two very similar deaths mirror those she writes about, and Detective Chief Inspector Harrison Bryce is assigned to investigate. Inspector Bryce soon discovers that Lavinia has become so popular that she has also made enemies along with her legion of fans.

He realizes that everyone surrounding Lavinia has a motive to have committed the crimes. He must work fast to determine who wants to harm her as he suspects Lavinia may be the next target on the killer’s list.

Also on audio – The Belle of London

Goodreads / Purchase

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EXCERPT:

Casimir Kimberly strode resolutely past the throng of people gathered in the alley who were trying to catch a glimpse of the body of the woman lying at the foot of the wooden stairs. His black woolen overcoat reached to his knees and he could feel the material swirl about his legs as he walked. Casimir was not a man given to fanciful dress or cologne as some dandies and French men were known to be, but damn did he love his coat.

He made eye contact with a policeman keeping the crowd under control and the man immediately motioned for Casimir to make his way through the circle of people. Casimir glanced over his shoulder and saw that Ralphie was behind him but lagging. The man was always falling behind.

As he came closer to the body lying in an odd position from the fall, a flash of lightning dominated the sky and he looked up. It was early in the morning and most people were still in bed. The crowd that was gathered now must be the dead woman’s neighbors or local tradespeople.

He felt around in his coat pocket for his John Millar & Sons tin and took out one drop and popped it into his mouth. As the delicious flavors of black currant and licorice filled his mouth, he began to study the crowd surrounding him. He first surveyed the middle-aged men, then the women. He knew what he was searching for and his heart beat faster as the lightning flashed once more through the morning sky.

He sat back on his haunches, surveying the body before him. He had been told a portion of the woman’s story when the police had summoned him. The charwoman had lived on the second floor and the stairs leading to the flat were outside in the alleyway. Sometime in the night, the woman had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck. Some in the police said it was an accident, others were not so convinced. He had been called in to look over the scene and give his opinion. Casimir wasn’t a detective with Scotland Yard nor a private investigator who worked for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, but he was blessed—or cursed, depending on whom you asked—with an abnormal understanding of crime, its victims, and most importantly the offenders.

Casimir suddenly looked up. He sniffed the air distinctly with several sniffs to the right and then to the left and narrowed his eyes.

“Ralphie,” he growled once.

“Yes, Guvnor,” came the quick reply from the man standing nearby.

“Move that fishmonger down the lane,” Casimir said simply. “All I can smell is his two-day-old mackerel.”

“Aye, Guvnor.”

The fishmonger was moved along but Casimir’s sense of smell was compromised. He swore inwardly. He always liked to get a sense of the crime scene’s smell. The blood, the vomit, the rain, the earth. Each had its own distinct smell and each told its own story. He looked down at the body and noticed the shabbiness of her nightdress, the small feet, and the hands used to hard work. The woman was probably in her forties but her weathered face looked closer to sixty. Her forehead was deeply lined, her eyes sunken into her skeletal face.

As he took in her worn hands, he noticed something peculiar. On the ring finger of her left hand there was no ring but lighter skin where a ring had once been. He knew the woman was married.

Casimir stood up abruptly, causing the onlookers around him to gasp. He shook his head and looked about at the group. He had been so absorbed in concentrating on the woman he had forgotten about the people surrounding him in the alleyway. He looked back into the group, his eyes searching for what he had seen before to assure himself that he was correct. His eyes narrowed when he saw the exchange and then he almost grinned. This was too easy, he told himself.

He strode forward, his long legs covering vast amounts of space before he stood before a stout, well-built man in the crowd. The man had the look of a stonemason, not very tall but built like a solid bull. He eyed the man quietly, looking over his beefy chest, his bulging forearms, his black hair sprinkled with gray, and the cap he held in his hands respectfully. Casimir narrowed his eyes and watched the man glance quickly to his right and then away again.

Following his gaze, he saw what the man was looking at. A small red-haired woman with a large bosom and thick ankles. She smiled shyly back at the man before he looked away.

“He did it,” Casimir said loudly and strongly, pointing to the stonemason.

Author Bio:

Nicola is a Los Angeles native. Early in elementary school, Nicola had a great fondness for reading and began to write creatively. She graduated from university with a degree in communications and has held a variety of positions in journalism, education, government and non profit.

Nicola has traveled extensively throughout Europe, China, Central America and Egypt and loves all things historical.

She has nineteen historical romance and mystery novels on Amazon.

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Library Love Review – Eruption by Michael Crichton & James Patterson #michaelcrichton #jamespatterson

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Eruption by James Patterson and Michael Crichton

Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

When I saw Eruption, it’s gorgeous cover and Michael Crichton’s and James Patterson names, I virtually hopped over to the library and grabbed me a copy. Michael Crichton had passed away before he could finish the novel, and James Patterson picked up the torch.

A once in a century volcanic eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. If that isn’t enough, there is a military secret that could cause a worldwide catastrophic event.

Did Eruption live up to its hype? Well, the pacing kept me ‘flipping pages’ wondering how they were going to get out of the mess they are in. Maybe it also contains a warning to us mortals. Sometimes the things we do come back and bite us on the ass. This could have been one of those moments, but through the valor and bravery of many, the worse case scenario was avoided. Just goes to show what can happen when everyone works together.

All in all, it was worth the wait, a month or so, to get a copy from my library.

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3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

A history-making once-in-a-century volcanic eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. But a decades-old military secret could turn the volcano into something even more terrifying… Now it’s up to a handful of brave individuals to save the island – and the entire world.

Two of the bestselling storytellers of all time have created an unforgettable thriller. The master of the techno-blockbuster joins forces with the master of the modern thriller to create the most anticipated mega bestseller in years. Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller. Eruption brings the pace of Patterson to the concept of Crichton: the most anticipated mega-thriller in years.

  • Genre: Military, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller
  • 432 pages, ebook
  • First published June 3, 2024 by Little, Brown & Company
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$25 GC – Tallowed Ground by Valona Jones @dollycas @MaggieToussaint

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TALLOWED GROUND BANNER


 Tallowed Ground: A Magic Candle Shop Mystery
by Valona Jones

About Tallowed Ground


Tallowed Ground: A Magic Candle Shop Mystery
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Georgia
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Muddle House Publishing (September 10, 2024)
Digital Print length ‏ : ‎ 269 pages
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D9HLPS2W

When a killer props his third and latest victim against the double tombstone of Tabby and Sage Winslow’s grandparents’ grave in Savannah, Georgia, the psychic twins are stunned. Even worse, the victim is the very man they filed a restraining order against a few months ago for trashing their book and candle shop. Coincidence…or a connection? Then a clue about the murders points to Tabby’s career as a candlemaker. Now, she is the number one suspect in the killing spree.

The twins investigate all three victims, finding little that might tie the cases together besides where the bodies were found—in or near Bonaventure Cemetery, a beautiful 100-acre historic graveyard with a storied past. Then Tabby’s Medical Examiner boyfriend is mysteriously pulled from the case, with his dream job in jeopardy. The situation reaches a flashpoint when new evidence points to Tabby. With her freedom and the family business in jeopardy, Tabby and Sage match their wits and psychic abilities against the wily killer.

That is, until Tabby’s spirited inquiry lands her in the worst kind of trouble. Can Tabby clear her name before the fiend snuffs her flame…for good?

About Valona Jones

Valona Jones, aka Maggie Toussaint, writes paranormal cozies set in coastal Georgia, Her latest release,

 TALLOWED GROUND, book 3 in the A Magic Candle Shop Mysteries, came out September 10, 2024. Under the name of Maggie Toussaint, she also publishes cozy mysteries and romantic suspense. Her pen name for a three-book science fiction ecothriller is Rigel Carson. In total, she has published more than 27 works of fiction and won multiple awards. She lives in coastal Georgia, where time and tide wait for no one. Visit her sites:  https://valonajones.com and https://maggietoussaint.com

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Giveaway – The Poseidon Project by E William Podohil @dollycas

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The Poseidon Project (The Herb Society Mysteries)
by E William Podojil

About The Poseidon Project


The Poseidon Project (The Herb Society Mysteries)
Mystery- Suspense – Adventure
1st in Series
Setting – Tucson, AZ and Dubai, UAE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wild Rose Press (August 26, 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 270 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1509256849
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1509256846
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CW1BKWS3

Molly Halloran and her friends have a secret past. Their bucolic retirement is suddenly upended when Molly’s husband is abducted and held for a steep ransom. Now she, her friends, her tech executive son, Lukas and his Air Force pilot boyfriend must race against the clock and travel halfway around the world to meet the kidnappers’ demands. But when they learn why her husband has been abducted, they realize how high the stakes truly are. Molly and her friends now must face their past in order to save the future. But not only their futures; the world’s.

About E William Podojil

E. William is an international business executive and novelist. He has traveled extensively and visited over sixty countries while based in Europe and the USA. Podojil works as an executive business advisor, strategist, and coach while also pursuing his love of storytelling and writing.  His second novel, The Poseidon Project, will be published in 2024 by The Wild Rose Press and is the first in a series of adventure thrillers. Podojil writes personal, humorous stories of his life and travels with his husband and three sons in his blog at www.ewpodojil.com.

Author Links
Website/Blog  Facebook   Instagram    X    Threads

Purchase Links
Amazon – B&N  – Bookshop.org 

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$20 GW & Review – Proven Innocence by Mary J Rocco @goddessfish

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PROVEN INNOCENCE by Mary J Rocco

GENRE:  Suspense/murder

MY REVIEW

Proven Innocence by Mary Rocco is her debut novel. The writing didn’t quite get there for a four or five star rating, but I see a lot of potential with the content. The mystery was easy for me to figure out, but I like that the one under suspicion, Cindy, is not the main character. Gabrielle is. That is a nice touch, Mary.

The writing needs work, but the characters and the story line were interesting enough to keep me turning the pages, wanting to find out how Cindy will get out of the mess she’s involved in through no fault of her own. She is accused of killing her husband and children and many are quick to call her guilty.

Gabrielle has taken it upon herself, a complete stranger to help cindy prove her innocence. She needs help. She can’t do it on her own. Even though Officer Mike Thomas has shown an interest in her, he has already labeled Cindy guilty, so she investigates on her own. I felt confident we would be hearing more about them before the story was over.

Proven Innocence has ruthless characters who’s motto is: Once you’re in, you’re never out.

The italicized sentences made it hard to read on my ereader. I get what Mary was trying to do, but I don’t think it was necessary.

Mary J Rocco did a good job with Proven Innocence and I look forward to reading more of her work as she polishes her craft. I foresee good things in her future.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Proven Innocence by Mary J Rocco.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Stars

Amazon / Kindle Unlimited / Goodreads

BLURB

Cynthia Evans wakes up in the trunk of a car, no idea how she got there, only to discover she’s wanted for the murder of her husband and children. With no memory of life prior, Cynthia is sure she did not commit the crime.

Only problem is-how does she convince anyone she’s not a murderer when she is not sure who she is?

With the help of a downtrodden diner waitress, Gabrielle, Cynthia fights to prove her innocence.

One thing is clear: Rick Evans is dead. But who is the real killer?

EXCERPT

Too many possibilities. To concentrate on survival, I must assure myself that this person driving knows I am here and plans to release me from the dark layer upon reaching his destination.

Seconds seem like minutes, minutes like hours, leaving it nearly impossible to estimate how long I have been lying here. My best guess is about thirty minutes, not including how long I lay there unconscious in the sealed compartment. No sense of day or night. No idea if it is dark or light outside, what day it is, or where I am in the world. I keep straining to listen for faint conversation, but still no luck. The blood on my head is drying and forming the beginning of a thin, crusty layer on top of my skin. My head itches, but I will not move a muscle to scratch it as the pain has not been numbed.

Suddenly, I feel the car turn around a ramp. The curvy road throws my body to the back part of the trunk. Gravity and cen¬trifugal force are not kind to my aching ailments as we exit the major highway. A series of turns are made after the exit, each a few minutes apart. I need to remember how many turns it takes to make a quick getaway back to the interstate, though, at this point, I have no foreseeable idea how that will happen. If my calculations are correct, the car proceeded off the high¬way as follows: it turned left at the end of the exit ramp; then it proceeded for about three minutes and made another left, a quick right, then another left. The ride begins to feel bump¬ier as the road beneath the wheels is no longer smooth pave¬ment. From the sound of the gravel below, I deduce the road is not paved. The location is too remote for paved roads––not a good sign.

Everything slows to a stop, and the roar of the engine fades. We have arrived at our destination. Sheer panic ensues.

What am I going to do? Is it best to pretend as if I am still knocked out? This person obviously wants me alive, or he would have finished the job earlier.

Click.

The driver popped open the trunk. It is slightly ajar, just enough to let in a small beam of light but not enough for me to see outside. Muted sunlight breaks through the space between the trunk and the car.

Both the driver’s side and the passenger’s side doors slam shut simultaneously, causing me to rock back and forth slightly.

There are two people.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

I have dreamed of being an author since the age of ten. I have been writing and crafting stories for the last twenty years, mostly because, well you know, life… and I got in my own way. After finishing law school, graduate school, travelling the world, getting married and starting a family I figured now was the time.

I was born and raised on Long Island, New York and spent ten years in my early adulthood living carefree in New York City. I currently reside with my husband and two beautiful children in the western suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, where I am a practicing attorney.

I hope to continue to publish many more novels that entertain and thrill readers.

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mary-J.-Rocco/author/B0CX13KN4Y

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Giveaway – The Summer Of Love And Death by Marcy McCreary @partnersincr1me

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The Summer of Love and Death by Marcy McCreary Banner

THE SUMMER OF LOVE AND DEATH

by Marcy McCreary

August 19 – September 13, 2024 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

The Summer of Love and Death by Marcy McCreary

A Ford Family Mystery

 

The summer of ’69: memorable for some, murder for others.

Detective Susan Ford and her new partner, Detective Jack Tomelli, are called to a crime scene at the local summer stock theater where they find the director of Murder on the Orient Express gruesomely murdered—naked, face caked in makeup, pillow at his feet, wrists and ankles bound by rope. When Susan describes the murder to her dad, retired detective Will Ford, he recognizes the MO of a 1969 serial killer . . . a case he worked fifty years ago.

Will remembers a lot of things about that summer—the Woodstock Festival, the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Miracle Mets—yet he is fuzzy on the details of the decades-old case. But when Susan and Jack discover the old case files, his memories start trickling back. And with each old and new clue, Susan, Jack, and Will must narrow down the pool of suspects before the killer strikes again.

Praise for The Summer of Love and Death:

“An old case has repercussions on a new copycat killing in this excellent police procedural. With juicy twists, an engaging cast, and an intriguing case that’s impossible to predict, The Summer of Love and Death is everything I want in a mystery. An addictive and entertaining ride!”
~ Christina McDonald, USA Today bestselling author

“McCreary unspools a lot of threads in The Summer of Love and Death, then masterfully weaves them all together atop the Ford family’s compelling dynamic for an ending you won’t see coming. It’s a fun ride that kept me guessing the whole time!”
~ Tony Wirt, bestselling author of Just Stay Away

“A compelling mystery that unfolds in two skillfully woven parallel narratives. McCreary pairs a haunting meditation on intergenerational trauma with an evocative rendering of that famous Summer of Love to deliver a suspenseful and deeply satisfying read.”
~ Lori Robbins, author of Murder in Fourth Position

“In the summer of 1969, there was peace and love—but also a serial killer committing bizarre murders. When a copycat killing occurs at the local summer stock theatre, detective Susan Ford must call on her father’s memory of his 1969 investigation to help her solve the present-day murder. The Summer of Love and Death offers page-turning suspense of how the legacy of murder can continue, leaving more than death in its wake.”
~ Nina Wachsman, author of The Courtesan’s Secret

“A fiendishly smart modern who-dunnit with clever characters and a mystery that keeps you guessing . . .”
~ Elise Hart Kipness, author of Lights Out

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery (Detective)
Published by: CamCat Books
Publication Date: August 13, 2024
Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 9780744310597 (ISBN10: 0744310598)
Series: A Ford Family Mystery, #3 | A Stand-Alone Series
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | CamCat Books

Read an excerpt:

You know that jittery, gut-roiling feeling you get when heading out on a blind date? That brew of nerves, anxiety, anticipation—plus a hint of dread. That pretty much summed up my morning. Today was the day, and standing at the front door, it finally hit me. I was no longer flying solo. A new partner was waiting for me down at the station.

My fingers twitchy, I fumbled with the zipper of my yellow slicker as I stood in front of the framed poster—an illustration of a white dove perched on a blue guitar neck, gripped by ivory fingers against a bright red background—touting three days of peace and music. Usually, I paid it no mind. But today it captured my attention. A signal, perhaps, that everything would turn out just fine, like it did exactly fifty years ago when four hundred thousand idealistic hippies descended upon this town. A projected disaster that ended up being a glorious experience. The legendary summer of love.

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair didn’t take place in Woodstock, New York. The residents of Woodstock were not keen on having the initially projected fifty thousand hippies traipsing through their town. The concert promoters eventually secured Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York—fifty-eight miles from Woodstock and six miles from where I live now. I was four at the time. I have no memory of it. Mom said I was sicker than sick that weekend. Ear infection. Fever escalating to 104 degrees. She tried to take me to a doctor, but the roads were clogged with festival revelers, so she had to postpone my appointment until Tuesday. But by then, the worst of it was over.

Fifty years. Those teenagers were in their sixties and seventies now. The older ones in their eighties. How many of them were still idealistic? How many were still into peace, love, and understanding? How many “dropped out” and berated “the man,” only later to find themselves the beneficiaries of capitalism? Becoming “the man.”

I leaned over slightly as I reached for the doorknob. The door swung open unexpectedly, smacking me in the forehead. “Whoa.” I ran my fingertips along my hairline. No bump. For now.

“Sorry, babe.” Ray’s voice drew Moxie’s attention. Our thirteenyear-old lab mix moseyed into the foyer, tail in full swing. Moseying was really all Moxie could muster these days. “Didn’t realize you were standing there.”

Ray had left the house an hour earlier. I peered over his shoulder at the running Jeep. “Forget something?”

“Yeah. My wallet.” Ray stepped inside, dripping. Moxie stared up at him, waiting. He squatted and rubbed her ears. “Raining cats and dogs out there. No offense, Moxie.” He glanced up at the poster. “Just like fifty years ago.” He sighed.

Ray’s parents were married at the festival by a traveling minister. One-year-old Ray in tow (earning him bragging rights as one of the youngest people to attend Woodstock). Tomorrow would have been their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Their death, at the hand of a drunk driver twelve years ago, spawned a program called Better Mad Than Sad—a class baked into the local drivers-ed curriculum that Ray (and the drunk driver’s girlfriend, Marisa) created ten years ago. Parents would join their kids for a fifty-minute session in which they pledged to pick up their kids or their kid’s friends, no questions asked, no judgment passed.

Last month, Ray reached out to a few of his and his parents’ friends asking if they would be up for a “celebration of life” vigil at the Woodstock Festival site this evening. Nothing formal. Just twenty or so folks standing around, reminiscing and shooting the shit about his parents.

Ray shook the rain off his jacket. “Met your new partner this morning.”

“Yeah?”

“He’s very good-looking.” He smirked, then added, “Movie-star good looking.”

I leaned back and gave Ray the once-over. “I’m more into the rough-around-the-edges type.”

“So I got nothing to worry about?”

“Not as long as you treat me right.” I smiled coyly. I had been without an official partner for a little over a year, since July 2018. My ex-partner bought a small farm in Vermont. He told me not to take it personally, but he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I still wondered if I contributed to his anxiety in some small way. Then I got shot in the thigh that August. So hiring a new partner was put on hold. Upon my return to active duty in October of 2018, I was assigned an under-the-radar cold case with my dad brought on as consulting partner. By the time the Trudy Solomon case was resolved, in December 2018, Chief Eldridge still hadn’t found a suitable replacement. Small-town policing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. So for the better part of 2019, it was just me and my shadow. Dad and Ray assisted on the Madison Garcia case, but the chief made it clear that protocol called for two detectives working a case, and my partnerless days were numbered. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I didn’t want a partner. I did. I just wished I had a say in who it was.

***

Excerpt from The Summer of Love and Death by Marcy McCreary. Copyright 2024 by Marcy McCreary. Reproduced with permission from CamCat Books. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Marcy McCreary

Marcy McCreary is the author of the Ford Family Mystery series. She graduated from George Washington University with a B.A. in American literature and political science and pursued a career in marketing and communications. She lives in Hull, MA with her husband, Lew.

Catch Up With Marcy McCreary:
www.MarcyMcCreary.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @marcymccreary
Instagram – @marcymccrearyauthor
Threads – @marcymccrearyauthor
Twitter/X – @mcmarcy
Facebook – @marcymccrearywrites

 

 

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