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Review: Spare Change by Bette Lee Crosby (Giveaway too!)

A - Z Reading Challenge, E-Book Challenge, Giveaways, Not Enough Books Cozy Mystery Challenge, Read - A - Latte 150 Challenge, Reviews 2013 3 Responses »

Feb 072013

Spare Change
Women’s Fiction/Historical Fiction
Bent Pine Publishing (September 27, 2011)
Paperback: 280 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0983887911
E-Book File Size: 455 KB
ASIN: B005SHN43A

“The Good Lord don’t do things that way- when He sees a person’s flat out of hope and feeling dead broke, He slips a bit of spare change into the bottom of their pocket; not a lot maybe, but enough for them to get by.”

Olivia Westerly disowned by her father when she bucks tradition and holds down a job and decides not to marry and have children. She was 26 years old and considered a spinster and that was just fine with her. Olivia is very superstitious as well – Eleven is the unluckiness number ever and opals mean a disaster is about to strike. Then forty years later she meets Charlie Doyle and he sweeps her off her feet. Then life takes an unexpected turn. Olivia is alone again and there is n eleven year boy at her door in search of his grandfather.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

What a moving story!!! Full of emotion and heartwarming!!

Told from several points of view Bette Lee Crosby has written a story that will stay with you long after you reach the final word. What starts as two stories slowly merges into one. Olivia is a woman very set in her ways with absolutely no desire to have children “weigh her down”. Then Ethan Allen, a young boy who has fought and survived everything that was thrown at him including seeing something no child should have to witness, enters her life and turns her world inside out. An 11 year old, with a very foul mouth and no trouble slipping whatever he wants in his pockets could easily send Olivia over the edge.

Woven into this story is also a crime to be solved. It is not really a mystery because the reader knows the criminal but it takes the courage of a character to come forward all the while knowing their life is in danger.

With a definite Southern voice – dark at times, a bit of humor, a touch of religion, fantastic characters for the reader to love and hate, and an unexpected twist, this book gets my highest recommendation. The book has won several awards and readers will know why. This one is a keeper, a story you will want to read again and share with your friends.

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

About This Author

Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction–the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.

Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since that time, she has gone on to win several more awards, including another NLAPW award, three Royal Palm Literary Awards, both the 2011 and 2012FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal and most recently the 2010 Reader’s View General Fiction Literary Award, Southeast Regional Fiction Award and the Jack Eadon Best Contemporary Drama Book Award.

Born in Detroit and raised in a plethora of states scattered across the South and Northeast, Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back. “Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”

Find out more on Bette’s webpage here.

Would you like to win a copy of this wonderful book?

The author is giving away 1 E-BOOK COPY!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review: It Takes Two To Strangle by Stephen Kaminski

1st In A Series Challenge, A - Z Cozy Mystery Challenge, Cruisin Thru Cozies Reading Challenge, Read - A - Latte 150 Challenge, Reviews 2013 7 Responses »

Feb 022013

It Takes Two to Strangle:
A Damon Lassard Dabbling Detective Mystery
First In Series
Cozy Mystery
Published by Cozy Cat Press (September 26, 2012)
Trade Paperback: 230 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0988194311
E-Book File Size: 389 KB
ASIN: B009F0TE0I

The carnival has come to Hollydale and as head of the citizen’s association Damon Lassard is the local liaison to make sure that event goes off without a hitch. When one of the owners of the carnival is found dead with two separate and different ligature marks Damon steps in to help his friend Detective Gerry Sloman solve the case and catch the killers.

Dollycas’s Thoughts
This was an interesting debut with quite a few red herrings.

Damon just can’t help himself, he gets right into the middle of the investigation. Detective Sloman gives him an inch and he takes a mile and gets himself in a couple of dicey situations. He is also a very typical man when it comes to women, thankfully his mother is around to point out things that are clear to everyone except Damon himself. Kaminski has written some very likable characters.

The mystery is complex with plenty of suspects and I must say I was surprised by one of the culprits. He was totally off my radar until the evidence was spelled right out for me.

I will be looking forward to more adventures with Damon Lassard and Detective Gerry Sloman. Damon needs Gerry to save him from himself and the criminals.

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

About This Author

STEPHEN KAMINSKI is the author of It Takes Two to Strangle, the first book in the Damon Lassard Dabbling Detective series. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Law School. Stephen has practiced law for over a decade and currently serves as General Counsel to a national non-profit organization. He is a lifelong lover of all types of mysteries and lives with his wife and daughter in Arlington, Virginia.

Special Thursday Edition of Cozy Wednesday with Author Josie Belle (Super Giveaway too!)

A - Z Cozy Mystery Challenge, Cozy Wednesday, Cruisin Thru Cozies Reading Challenge, Giveaways, Read - A - Latte 150 Challenge, Reviews 2013, Where Are You Reading Challenge 46 Responses »

Jan 242013

cozy wednesday

This month has been crazy for incredible cozies!!

Let’s find out a little bit about Josie Bell!

Head shot - Jan 2012

1. What was your inspiration for the Good Buy Girls Mysteries?

The Good Buy Girls series is actually a writer-for-hire series, which means that Berkley Prime Crime had an idea for a bargain hunter series and was looking for a writer to write it. When I heard the premise, being a thrifty soul, I knew I had to write it. I changed pretty much everything about their original idea but they were happy with the changes and so a partnership was formed.

2. Are you a Good Buy Girl? (Coupon Clipper, Discount Diva)

OMG! The Hub says I can only buy something if I can say, “I scored it for 75% off, can you believe it?” It used to drive him nuts, but now, I think he understands that bargains are like a contact sport for me. How can you not feel the rush when you find a pair of designer shoes in your size for 90% off. I live for that, truly.

3. You have written under a couple of different pseudonyms, is this your choice or the publishers?

I have three series that were my original ideas under the name Jenn McKinlay, but I broke into the mystery world by taking a writer-for-hire project about a decoupage artist and that series is under the name Lucy Lawrence. Because the publisher owns the copyright for the writer-for-hire books, I had to use a different name. Both of my pen names come from mixing my grandmother’s names and my pets’ names, so they are still in the family.

4. What are you reading for fun right now?

In my day job, I work part-time in Youth Services at the Phoenix Public Library. This works out wonderfully as I don’t read mysteries when I’m writing them for fear that I might begin to sound like the author I am reading. So, I read young adult novels and I have a weakness for fanstasy/paranormal series books. My latest reads are Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. I highly recommend both books. My library teens have been bugging me to write a YA paranormal, so that is underway. It’s been fun to try something new!

5. If money was no object and you could escape to anywhere in the world to write where would you go and what do you think the book would be about?

WOW! That is an excellent question. When my hooligans are completely driving me mental (like the time I caught them hoarding water balloons to sneak attack the mailman – Oy!) I always picture myself on a balcony in Paris with my laptop open, a glass of wine to my right, and a view of the Eiffel Tower as evening leads the city into night. Sadly, I have no idea what I’m writing, but I bet I get more than a paragraph done without hearing , “Mooooooom!” Honestly, the Hub and the hooligans inspire me so much, I doubt I’d get much done in a quiet room, but the idea is a nice meditation when the burping, farting, yelling and wrestling get to be too much.

Thanks so much for inviting me to chat! Happy New Year, Lori!
Jenn/Josie

I am so thrilled when you stop by!! Thank you so much Jenn!!!

Now let me tell you about this wonderful story!!

a deal to die for

A Deal to Die For
(Good Buy Girls)
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Group (December 31, 2012)
Published by The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425251850
E-Book File Size: 551 KB
ASIN: B0095ZPS4Y
Cover Illustration by Mary Ann Lasher
Cover Design by Sarah Oberrender

Maggie Gerber needs just the right merchandise to give her secondhand shop, My Sister’s Closet, the edge over her vindictive rival Summer Phillips’ new store that has opened right across the street. The Good Buy Girls have heard that Vera Madison will be selling off her vintage clothing at the St. Stanley flea market and they plan to be first in line.

And that’s right where there are when all hell breaks loose. Vera has left her daughter in charge of her booth while she runs a quick errand. But Vera will not be returning. She was just found dead and it has been ruled a murder. The Good Buy Girls learn Vera had more than a few skeletons in her closet and more enemies than shoes. If Maggie wants to get her store open they are going to have to bag a killer before they bag any bargains.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

I am loving these Good Buy Girls and the Good Guys are not bad either. Summer Phillips is just plain mean and joined with the evil Courtney sets the reader up for a very entertaining ride.

The mystery was complex and the secrets are revealed in such a way that keeps the reader guessing right up to the very special moment where everything falls into place.

I like the romantic tension/triangle very much. Do you go back to the heartthrob of your youth or try something mature and new? Maggie is cautious and unsure and I hope the author takes her time experimenting with the couples a bit before Maggie falls hard for one or the other. We are left guessing at the end and I refused to read ahead in the teaser chapter for Buried In Bargain because I just don’t want to know yet. Plus you know how these stories work, there has to be twists and turns, so I will not so patiently wait to read the entire thing when book #3 is released.

A Deal to Die For should be at the top of your shopping list!

a perfect escape

5 STARFISH

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

To Find Out More About Josie Bell/Jenn McKinlay Visit Her Webpage Here.

Thanks to the author I have a Super Giveaway!!!
She has sent me 5 Autographed Copies of

and
Some Bookish Swag To Give Away!!!

U.S. and CANADIAN RESIDENTS
You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.

Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.

Leave a comment for Josie for 5 Bonus Entries!

If you publicize the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.

Contest Will End February 7, 2013 at 11:59 PM CST
Winners Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winners Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.

CLICK HERE FOR ENTRY FORM

Review: Dead Man Waltzing by Ella Barrick

Reviews 2012 2 Responses »

Aug 022012

Dead Man Waltzing:
A Ballroom Dance Mystery
Book 2 in Series
An Obsidian Mystery
Published by New American Library (June 5, 2012)
A Division of The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451237347

Dead Man Waltzing (A Ballroom Dance Mystery #2)

The professional ballroom dance community misses several steps when they learn that Corinne Blakely has been poisoned. She was publishing a tell-all memoir that included several secrets of her former dance partners. Was she killed to stop publication of the book that told several people moves both on and off the dance floor?

Stacy gets involved when Maurice, one of her dance instructors and one of several of Corrine’s ex-husbands, becomes the prime suspect. Hopefully Stacy knows all the right steps to clear Maurice’s name and waltz away before the real killer can punch her dance card.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

With the craze of Dancing With The Stars which Green Bay Packer Donald Driver won last season this a entertaining series. It looks more at the professional dancers but when we read Viennese Waltz and Paso Doble we can see the dances clearly in our minds.

We get to follow the clues to the mystery with Stacy plus we get a behind the scenes look of running a ballroom dance studio and the dedication it takes to compete in ballroom dances competitions. In this installment the pros were campaigning to make ballroom dancing an Olympic sport.

Another light, fun and entertaining cozy from Ella Barrick. A new trip across the dance floor will be out in September. Maybe Stacy will be tripping the light fantastic with someone special.

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

Cozy Wednesday With Author Alyse Carlson (Giveaway too!)

Cozy Wednesday, Giveaways, Not Enough Books Cozy Mystery Challenge, Reviews 2012 55 Responses »

Jun 132012

Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!

I “met” today’s author back in January when she posted the beautiful cover of this book on Facebook. I loved the idea of a Garden Society Mystery. I added the cover to my Recommendations Page as a book “I Can’t Wait To Read!” and we set up a date for her to visit. TODAY!!! Please help yourself to some iced tea and help me give Alyse a Cozy Welcome.

Hi Alyse!

Hi Everyone!

A Cozy Voice

I have to confess to being a little intimidated to be here. Lori is so organized and has such amazing guests that I feel a little like a fraud, but there you have it. Have you all watched Neil Gaiman’s commencement address? For anyone creating art and trying to make a living at it, it is worth the time to listen, but those Fraud Police really spoke to me! What if it’s discovered I’m just… you know… a poser?! An insane person trying to pass myself off as an author!

At the same time, I’ve never discovered a genre that my voice slid into quite so easily as Cozy Mystery, so I suppose I will take some assurance there.

What Exactly IS a Cozy Voice? (and why does it suit a nut quite as well as it does?)
In a nut shell, it is the ability to be silly and still make a point… to travel a complicated path, taking people with me, and to make sure they feel like they are playing along the way.

When I first had it suggested I should write cozy mysteries, I hadn’t even HEARD of them (that’s terrible, yes?). I mean when my friend DESCRIBED them, I recognized them instantly… and knew them as my favorite sort of mysteries… not because I’m squeamish—I can handle the gore or the swearing or the sex that this genre puts as taboo… but I preferred the mystery where I UNDERSTOOD the DETAILS! Where the characters were approachable and I wanted to hang out with them.

I’m not a cop. I’m not a detective. I am not a forensic specialist or pathologist (even though honestly, they are often my favorite television characters). I was terrified at the idea of writing a mystery because I didn’t feel like I knew enough… But do you KNOW how liberating an amateur sleuth is? Heck, SHE doesn’t know anything EITHER! I can write whole books without knowing ANYTHING! *cough*

Okay, so maybe not. Mysteries are really very carefully plotted… But I don’t have to know the LANGUAGE initially, for a crime scene… I can learn it as I go. I don’t have to necessarily be methodical… I mean HECK! Our sleuths get into this game because someone they care about is accused of MURDER! How many of us would really stay totally rational in that situation? How methodical is it rational to BE and still have a likeable sleuth?

The other thing though, that is so fun about Cozy Mysteries, is that there is an expectation of humor… of nuttiness… of whimsy. Most often this is character quirk or situational—the side characters are really allowed (encouraged?) to be a zany sort. And I LOVE zany characters… especially when their zaniness creates low-level, and therefore humorous conflict.

Take Petunia, for instance. Camellia Harris (Cam, my sleuth) has a sister who is prickly… a reverse snob. She hates everything that gives a status she sees as false. Rich people? Pretty people? Educated people? They ALL annoy Petunia. Petunia loves charity cases and basket cases. Unfortunately, Cam happens to WORK WITH a garden society made up of the community’s prestigious and wealthy. And hires her sister and brother-in-law to cater because she is loyal that way… Conflict potential all around!

Cam’s father, too… a sixty-something babe-magnet… every middle aged woman in the room eyes him with longing… And he definitely earns it—self deprecating charm. But it is a bit of a hornet’s nest if more than one of your bosses is after the same man who happens to be your father…

You can see what I mean. I’ve had a blast setting this up. Sometimes the quirks feed into the murder mystery, sometimes not, but they add texture to the series, and humor to the tale. So it’s possible I’m a fraud, but I am sure having a ball getting away with it!

Alyse Carlson is the pen name for the author some of you may know as Hart Johnson. She writes books from her bathtub and when she isn’t writing, does research for a large, midwest University or leads the Naked World Domination Movement (your choice).

Check out Alyse’s blog: Confessions of a Watery Tart.

~Alyse

Alyse you are most definitely not a fraud. You have a wonderful cozy voice. You are also an AMAZING Guest!! The door is always open. I hope you come back to visit often!!

The Azalea Assault
(A Garden Society Mystery)
A BRAND NEW SERIES!
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery]
The Berkley Publishing Group
Published by The Penguin Group

Cover Design by Catherine Deeter
Cover Design by Lesley Worrell

Cam Harris loves her job as public relations manager for the Roanoke Garden Society. It allows her to combine her three loves, spinning the press, showing off her favorite town, and promoting her favorite activity. She’s just achieved a huge coup by enlisting Garden Delights, the country’s premiere gardening magazine, to feature the exquisite garden of RGS founder, Neil Patrick. She’s even managed to enlist world-famous photographer Jean-Jacques Georges. Unfortunately, Jean-Jacques is a first-rate cad—insulting the RGS members and gardening, goosing every woman in the room, and drinking like a lush. It is hardly a surprise when he turns up dead. But when Cam’s brother-in-law is accused and her sister begs her to solve the crime, that is when things really get prickly.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

This is a wonderful debut.

Carlson has created some fantastic characters that we quickly fall for. Cam is quick witted and smart, the perfect protagonist. Petunia is lovable, funny and set in her ways. Nick, the reformed ex-con, loves his wife and is her great protector. Her friend Annie bakes cupcakes, need I say more. Cam’s father makes women swoon and Rob has eyes for just one woman. Jean-Jacques was the perfect victim, if he goosed me I may have done him in myself!

The story is delightful with a mystery that keeps us tip toeing through the azaleas to pick up all the clues. Nancy Drew has nothing on Miss Camille Harris. Take some time to stop of smell the flowers for this first installment of what I know will be a very fragrant series. The Begonia Bribe will be coming soon!!

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

Thanks to the people at Penguin
I have 2 copies to giveaway!!

U.S. and CANADIAN RESIDENTS
You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.

Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.

Leave a comment for Alyse for 5 Bonus Entries!

If you publicize the giveaway anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.

Contest Will End June 27, 2012 at 11:59 PM CST
Winners Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winners Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here.

Review: The Diva Digs Up The Dirt by Krista Davis

Reviews 2012 2 Responses »

Jun 092012

The Diva Digs Up the Dirt
(A Domestic Diva Mystery)
6th Book In Series

A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Group
Published by The Penguin Group

Cover Illustration by Teresa Fasolino
Cover Design by Diane Kolsky

The Diva Digs Up the Dirt (A Domestic Diva Mystery)

All Sophie wants to do is sit back and relax and enjoy her one week of vacation. Natasha is not going to let that happen. She has plans to become a television star and she is going to use Sophie’s backyard to put her plan in motion. She has entered Sophie to be on the show Tear It With Troy and Sophie has won a backyard makeover.

Natasha has things under control and is driving the host Troy absolutely crazy. It is the perfect time for Sophie to make her getaway. She decides she is going to hideout, I mean head over, to her boyfriend Wolf’s house to replace a dead rose bush that she was planning to do to surprise him before all the hoopla landed at her house.

Sophie quickly learns “no good deed goes unpunished” when she digs up more than a dead rose bush. She also digs up a purse and according to the information inside it belongs to Wolf’s wife, his wife that has been missing for years.

Things don’t look good for Wolf. Of course he is the number one suspect. His mother-in-law running around town saying he murdered her daughter doesn’t help matters. Our Domestic Diva is on the case. She will dig up the clues to lead her to the real culprit.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

I have to admit I was laughing out loud for many parts of this book. This is not your typical murder mystery or even typical cozy mystery. It is so freaking good!!:) It is a little dark in places and has crazy twists and turns. I was even a little tearful a couple times.

I just love Sophie. She is an independent woman that doesn’t back down to a challenge and she knows when to pick her battles. The last thing she wanted was her backyard bulldozed but decided a makeover may not be an awful idea. Plus it kept Natasha busy, she really needs to get her house keys back from that woman.

There were a few interesting characters in this installment but Desdemona was by far the most curious. I won’t call her a stalker but she definitely was a lurker. Showing up in unexpected places.

There is also more than murder happening around this town, a expensive piece of art goes missing, a plethora of poisoning seems to be occurring, and what the heck is that smell.

Krista Davis has a winner on her hands. The Diva Digs Up the Dirt is a fresh and exciting who-dun-it you won’t be able to put down.

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

To Find Out More About Krista Davis check out her website.

Review: Died on the Vine by Joyce Harmon

E-Book Challenge, Read Your Name Challenge, Reviews 2012 Comments Off

May 192012

Died On The Vine
A Passatonnack Winery Mystery
First in the Series
E-BOOK

Cecilla (Cissy) Rayburn and husband Jack have retired to their summer place, a winery in rural Virginia. They are settling into their routines and planning for the future when a man, Obadiah Winslow, shows up at their place and tells Cissy he believes her first husband, Jimmy is alive. Jimmy was killed in the Vietnam War when his plane was shot down. “Colonel” Winslow even has a picture of a man that could be Jimmy.

After he leaves Cissy does a little research and find that Winslow is connected with a group that tries to help families find their loved ones that were classified “Missing In Action”. Before she has time to decide if she wants to pursue Winslow’s claim, he is found dead. He was murdered and left in the Rayburns vineyard with Jack’s secateurs in his chest. Jack becomes the prime suspect. They thought they left the rat race to relax in the country. To save their days of wine and roses she must find the real killer before Jack is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.

Dollycas’s Thoughts
I really enjoyed this cozy mystery! The clipper culprit was quite a surprise.

Cissy sets out to find the killer with the help of her friend Julie. Then they find a very interesting person with quite a bit of information about Colonel Obadiah Winslow. Together they are a team to be reckoned with. Julie is not one to mince words and Cissy calms the waters, which makes for a few humorous moments.

The setting di”vine” and the mystery is clever.

This is the delightful cozy to read with a nice glass of wine while relaxing on the deck on a Spring afternoon. I am looking forward to Harmon pulling the cork on the next installment of this series.

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

Love Thy Neighbor by Mark Gilleo Virtual Book Tour

Mystery & Suspense Challenge, Reviews 2012, Virtual Blog Tour 4 Responses »

Apr 192012

Mark Gilleo holds a graduate degree in international business from the University of South Carolina and an undergraduate degree in business from George Mason University. He enjoys traveling, has lived and worked in Asia, and speaks fluent Japanese. A fourth-generation Washingtonian, he currently resides in the D.C. area.

I am pleased to welcome his book tour here today for Love Thy Neighbor.

Love Thy Neighbor
Published by The Story Plant

How well do you know your neighbors?

Clark Hayden, a graduate student, moves home to try to help his mother get through the loss of his father. The neighbors have been doing their best looking out for and taking care of her but her diminished mental status seems to be escalating. He knows it is time to come home. He gets there just in time for her holiday party and gets to thank the neighbors for what they have done. He also arrives home just in time to find out his mother is being audited by the IRS!

As the holidays wind down things turn dicey as neighbors go missing, some are found dead and Clark is learning way to much about secret government operations, deadly chemicals and terrorist cells. This is not the neighborhood Clark grew up in and he may hold the key that could save hundreds of thousands of lives in the nation’s capital.

Dollycas’s Thoughts
This is a very well written story for a debut novel and it has an extremely complex plot with several characters. While quick paced it is not a book you can read quickly. It needs to be savored so you can catch all of the nuances to the characters and the settings. At times the dialogue becomes so graphic it shines in your mind’s eye like a movie.

In the world today, post 9/11, this story could actually happen, which makes it all the more enticing. There is one twist with a character that was extremely unexpected due to what we have learned about about Middle Eastern culture, but I can tell that the author has done extensive research for this novel and that makes the twist very credible in my eyes.

If you enjoy a good mystery I can promise you will enjoy this book. It will keep you guessing until the very end and will stick with you long after you have read the last word. Mark Gilleo is an author to watch, quality this good in a debut novel is no fluke, I can’t wait for his next suspenseful tale.

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

50% OFF MURDER by Josie Belle

Not Enough Books Cozy Mystery Challenge, Reviews 2012 1 Response »

Apr 032012

50% Off Murder
(Good Buy Girls)
Brand New Series

A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Company
Published by The Penguin Group’
Cover Illustration by Mary Ann Lasher
Cover Design by Sarah Oberreader
Available Now!!

Meet the Good Buy Girls – Maggie Gerber, St. Stanley native. Her husband, Charlie, was a deputy for the St. Stanley Sheriff’s Department. He was killed in the line of duty when their daughter, Laura, was just a toddler. Laura is now a sophomore at Penn State and Maggie has opened her home to her niece Sandy and her son Josh. Sandy’s husband is deployed in Afghanistan and Sandy is studying to become a nurse. Maggie helps with Josh and does billing part-time for a local doctor.

Ginger Lancaster, another St. Stanley native, same age, same dress and shoe size as Maggie. Ginger is outspoken and funny. She runs her own accounting business. Her husband has a corporate sales job and they have four teenage boys.

Clare Freemont is in her mid-30′s, she moved from Baltimore and is a librarian with a very dry sense of humor, her biggest extravagance is gourmet pet food for her cat, Mr. Tumnus. Maggie invited Clare to join the group when she found out they shared a mutual love for books and bargains.

Joanne Claramotta is the newest member of the group. Together with her husband Michael they own and operate the More Than Meats Butcher Shop and Deli. They moved to St. Stanley from Brooklyn about 10 years ago.

Maggie and Ginger started the Good Buy Girls Club to share coupons, discounts and bargain tips over 20 years ago when they were newlyweds expecting their first babies. The club membership has varied over the years with Ginger and Maggie as self-proclaimed life time members. Maggie’s house is home base for the club.

Maggie takes Josh to story hour at the library. While he is playing with friends Maggie visits with Clare. She decides to help her move some donated books to the library basement. When they reached the bottom of the stairs they are scared to death. There is body on the floor with a knife in his chest. Turns out Clare recognizes the man, someone from her past.

The handsome new sheriff who happens to be a man from Maggie’s past sets his sights on Clare as his prime suspect. It will take more than a clearance sale for the Good Buy Girls to get their friend out of this jam.

Dollycas’s Thoughts
This is a wonderful debut to this brand new series.

Josie Belle is a pseudonym for Jenn McKinlay author of the Library Lover’s Mystery Series and the Cupcake Mystery Series. She also wrote the Decoupage Mysteries under the name Lucy Lawrence.

In this series she has created wonderful characters in the Good Buy Girls but also in the supporting characters. The sheriff Sam Collins, Max who is so much more the the guy who works at the Frosty Freeze, Summer Phillips the thorn in Maggie’s side, and the suspects, there are many more than just Clare.

She has also developed a very engaging who-dun-it that keeps bringing the man Maggie wants to avoid more than paying retail into her path. Why did he have to come back to St. Stanley? Things were going so well.

Who doesn’t love a good bargain? Josie Belle has taken a theme we all can relate to and turned it into what I know will be a very successful series. 50% Off Murder equals 110% of fun!! I can’t wait for the next big sale! Keep you elbows to yourself and your eyes on the prize, three…two… one…go!!!!!

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim

A - Z Reading Challenge, Reviews 2012, Where Are You Reading Challenge, Why Buy The Cow Reading Challenge - 2012 2 Responses »

Mar 232012

Yellow Crocus: A Novel
Flaming Chalice Press

It’s 1837, Mattie is summoned to the “big house” where newborn Elizabeth (Lisbeth) Wainwright is thrust into her arms to nurse, care for and nurture. It is supposed to be a great honor to get to work in the owner’s home but Mattie had to leave her own baby and her family behind in the slaves quarters. But slaves do what they are told or face cruel punishment so she tries to make the best of it, visiting her family for a few hours on Sundays and glimpses she can catch out the nursery window. Maddie and Lisbeth become as close as a mother and daughter and their journey has just begun.

Dollycas’s Thoughts
This is a beautifully written chronicle of one of the worst times in American history. The story takes place on the Wainwright plantation and while they work their slaves very hard the punishments did not seem to be a severe as at other plantations during this time. Lisbeth took time to learn what life was truly like for the slaves and her innocent awakening to life beyond the “big house” was very engaging. She really led a sheltered life with Maddie. Maddie was a strong woman that never complained and lived with the life she was dealt, even though it was filled with much hardship. Lisbeth grows in strength too by the end of the story.

The reader gets to travel through both women’s journey that at times brought tears to my eyes and others that made me smile. This is a perfect springtime read as the yellow crocus just starts to bloom and the earth is renewed after winter. I really loved this story and think you will too.

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

This book is available in both paperback and e-book. Right now you can get the e-book for Free if you are an Amazon Prime Member or just 99 cents if you are not. B&N.COM has the paperback but does not offer the e-book at this time.

*This book was from my private collection.

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