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Terry Ambrose

Writing is like a good barbecue sauce, if it ain't bold, it ain't worth doing.

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You are here: Home / Archives for Books - Featured

Books - Featured

Natural Thorn Killer by Kate Dyer-Seeley

January 23, 2018 By Terry Leave a Comment

Natural Thorn Killer by Kate Dyer-Seeley

 

About the Book

Natural Thorn Killer (A Rose City Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
New Series
Kensington (March 27, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1496705136
Digital ASIN: B073NPHX8Z

Cut down among the flowers . . .

Britta Johnston might be a late bloomer, but after leaving her deadbeat husband and dead-end job, she’s finally pursuing her artistic passion at her aunt Elin’s floral boutique, Blooma, in Portland, Oregon. It’s on the banks of the Willamette, in a quaint district of cobblestone paths and cherry trees. The wine bar featuring Pacific Northwest vintages is a tasty bonus, offering another kind of bouquet to enjoy. But things aren’t as peaceful as they look.

For one thing, someone’s been leaving dead roses around—and a sleazy real estate developer who wants the waterfront property has put a big-money offer on the table. Then, after a contentious meeting of local business owners, he’s found on the floor of the shop, with Elin’s garden shears planted in his chest. And before the police decide to pin the crime on her beloved aunt, Britta will have to find out who arranged this murder . . .

About the Author

Kate Dyer-Seeley aka Ellie Alexander writes multiple mystery series, all with a Pacific Northwest touch. She lives in the PNW with her husband and son, where you can find her hitting the trail, at an artisan coffee shop, or at her favorite pub. Better yet—at all three.

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Filed Under: Books - Featured

Launch Day! A Treasure to Die For is available!

September 21, 2017 By Terry Leave a Comment

Oh, man, do I hate book launches. It’s the day every author anticipates eagerly—and finds overwhelming because there’s so much going on. Still, it’s a part of publishing and it’s here. A Treasure to Die For is available on Amazon!

Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mysteries are a new series set in the fictional town of Seaside Cove. It’s a place where treasure hunting is a huge business, gossip runs rampant, and new B&B owner Rick Atwood works overtime to keep his precocious ten-year-old daughter Alex from trying to show up the local cops. A Treasure to Die For is the first book in the series. Everything starts when a sunken Spanish galleon brings eight treasure hunters—and murder—to quaint Seaside Cove.

A Treasure to Die For

A Treasure to Die For

Author: Terry Ambrose
Series: A Seaside Cove Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Mystery

Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mysteries are a new series set in the fictional town of Seaside Cove. It's a place where treasure hunting is a huge business, gossip runs rampant, and new B&B owner Rick Atwood works overtime to keep his precocious ten-year-old daughter Alex from trying to show up the local cops.

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Filed Under: Books - Featured

A Treasure to Die For cover reveal!

August 6, 2017 By Terry Leave a Comment

Cover reveal! Book & a Latte Contest below!

A Treasure to Die For

A Treasure to Die For

Murder meets the sea in a quaint little town on the California coast.

Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mysteries are a new series set in the fictional town of Seaside Cove. It's a place where treasure hunting is a huge business, gossip runs rampant, and new B&B owner Rick Atwood works overtime to keep his precocious ten-year-old daughter Alex from trying to show up the local cops.

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A Treasure to Die For

Bandit gold and sunken pirate ships. What could be better for the reputation of a quaint coastal California town like Seaside Cove?

Local eyebrows go up when eight friends come searching for a 16th Century Spanish galleon. After all, everybody knows there’s no such thing as Spanish gold off this part of the California coast.

The group’s visit turns ugly when a killer strikes and leaves Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast owner Rick Atwood with a trunkful of questions. Who murdered one of his guests? Will his precocious ten-year-old daughter stop interfering in his investigation? And can he squelch the latest town gossip? Which is, of course, can Rick and his daughter do what the cops can’t and solve the crime?


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Details
Author: Terry Ambrose
Series: A Seaside Cove Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Mystery
ASIN: B074MM55VL
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About the Author
Terry Ambrose

I started out as a skip tracer. Just in case you don't know, that's the guy who finds the people who don't want to be found. It was the little things—getting paid to lie—that made skip tracing the fun part of the job. The other part of my job was to collect money from deadbeats. I must confess, I never personally stole a car, but did sometimes hire big guys with tow trucks to work in the dark and “help” when negotiations failed. Those years of chasing deadbeats taught me many valuable life lessons, such as liars come from all walks of life, and always keep your car in the garage

Other Books in "A Seaside Cove Mystery"
Clues in the Sand
The Killer Christmas Sweater Club
Secrets of the Treasure King
Preview
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. 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."

Book & a Latte Contest

What: This month, I’m giving away one soft cover copy of “A Treasure to Die For” and I’m adding a $5.00 Starbucks gift card to the prize. One random entry will be chosen as winner. Winner will receive a book and a gift card.

How to enter: Choose one or more of the options below. Each option gives you an additional chance to win.

Who can enter: This contest is only open to continental US residents over 18 years of age.

Winners: Selected winners must claim prizes within 72 hours of notification. Verification of entries: All winning entries are subject to verification.

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Filed Under: Books - Featured

Catriona McPherson – discusses Come to Harm

May 26, 2015 By Terry 2 Comments

Catriona McPherson - Come to HarmCatriona McPherson is the award-winning author of mysteries in multiple genres. She writes a 1920s detective series as well as standalone thrillers. One of the things that makes Catriona McPherson unusual is that she’s a Scottish writer who grew up on a diet that would send vegetarians running for the hills. For this interview with the current President of Sisters in Crime, we’re talking about food, culture, and the crazy ways they can clash.

McPherson said that her primary concern is the story. “I want to tell the stories that are burning a hole in me. Sometimes an issue bubbles up while I’m writing: for instance, I wrote a book set during the UK General Strike in 1926 and was so angry about the plight of the miners that a lot of tub-thumping and fist-shaking went into the first draft. It got cut out of the second, though.”

“Come to Harm,” Catriona McPherson’s latest standalone thriller, was inspired by events that took place while she was doing her PhD in Edinburgh in the 1990s.

“Three of my friends were young women from Japan: Etsuko Oishi, Mariko Kondo and Yuko Kondo. We talked and laughed a lot about the culture shock of Scottish food for Japanese people. Then, when I started writing fiction, I lived near Castle Douglas, a town with three thousand inhabitants and four thriving butcher’s shops, including my favourite—Grierson Brothers—who raise their own stock, and produce their own fantastic sausages, meat pies, meat pates, meat, meat, meat.”

McPherson was fascinated by what a Japanese visitor would make of such a butcher shop and what fears she might have about the food. “Years later, ‘Come To Harm’ is the result of that musing turned into psychological suspense.” McPherson said that like the character Keiko in the story she is also a fish out of water.

Bestselling New York Times author interviews

Behind the story of Die Again with Tess Gerritsen
Behind the story of Scorched Eggs with Laura Childs
Behind the story with New York Times bestseller Cleo Coyle
Behind the story of Fear Nothing with Lisa Gardner

Get these stories as they happen

“I moved from Castle Douglas to Davis, CA, in 2010 and met my own version of an alien food culture. I remember asking the carpenter who was working on my new house to identify a strange object someone had given me in a welcome basket. ‘It’s a guava,’ he said, in the voice I’d use to tell someone ‘it’s an onion.’ He only just managed not to say ’It’s a guava, you idiot.’

I did consider a Scottish heroine in the US, but the clash of Japanese food habits and Scottish food habits was more extreme and funnier. Also, when I poke fun at Scottish cooking—all that lard!—I’m laughing at my own people. I haven’t been in the US long enough to have earned the right to make jokes yet. Although, let me tell you, when my clean-your-plate upbringing met modern American portions I put on twenty pounds in a year. I’m still working on losing the immigration weight.”

One challenge McPherson faced while working on “Come to Harm” was writing about the food, but not being able to eat it. She said, “I miss the meat pies of home. Pork pies—cold pork and jelly in a hot water pastry shell, steak pies—cubed beef with gravy in flaky pastry, sausage rolls—sausage meat in flaky pastry, bridies—minced beef in shortcrust, pasties—cubed lamb and vegetables in puff, and the pie of pies—known simply as ‘a pie’—which is peppery mutton in a small, round, suety case. They’re so iconic, I’ve got them on my website.

“When we were moving into the new house, my husband asked in all seriousness how you could expect people to help you shift your stuff in a country without pork pies. Now we know that the answer is pizza.”

McPherson joked that “Come to Harm” should probably come with a warning label—Not Suitable for Vegetarians. She added, “But, it could also carry a guarantee that I was brought up on the food in the book—steak and kidney pudding, tripe and onions, potted hough—and it never did me any harm. Will Keiko be as lucky? Not telling.”

Catriona McPherson wrote her first 1920s detective story because she loved the novels of Dorothy L Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Michael Innes and Margery Allingham. She added, “As well as her Extreme Awesomeness, Dame Agatha. I’ve now written ten of them and am working on No.11.”

Recognizing that not every story is right for that time and that character—a gently-born lady turned private-eye—she also chose to write the standalone thrillers. McPherson said, “The stand-alone novels, including ‘Come To Harm,’ are not exactly more realistic—I would argue that all crime fiction is pretty unrealistic—but they’re closer to my reality. Spoiler alert: I am not a posh, conservative Victorian. I’m lucky to be able to write both and I haven’t had any fans of one lot complain about the others. Yet.”

More about Catriona McPherson

Learn more about Catriona McPherson on her website at catrionamcpherson.com. In 2014, McPherson won the Anthony for Best Paperback Original for her standalone thriller, “As She Left It.”

Filed Under: Author Interviews, Books - Featured, One Step Ahead - Featured Tagged With: Award-winning Authors, crime fiction, mystery, thriller

Ellie Stone returns in Stone Cold Dead — a new 60s mystery

May 14, 2015 By Terry Leave a Comment

Ellie Stone is back in Stone Cold Dead Ellie Stone is working hard to make a name for herself as a reporter at The New Holland Republic in small-town upstate New York. Ellie’s usual assignments consist of high school basketball games, society news, and city council meetings. But, at 2:00 AM New Year’s Eve, Irene Metzger shows up at Ellie’s door wanting help in finding her missing daughter, Darleen.

Darleen Hicks is a fifteen year-old junior-high student who missed her bus home ten days earlier on December 21, 1960. She has not been seen since. The police are convinced Darleen ran off with an older boy and have not been investigating her disappearance. Irene refuses to believe Darleen left voluntarily and is convinced that Ellie Stone is her only hope in finding her daughter.

Bestselling New York Times author interviews

Behind the story of Die Again with Tess Gerritsen
Behind the story of Scorched Eggs with Laura Childs
Behind the story with New York Times bestseller Cleo Coyle
Behind the story of Fear Nothing with Lisa Gardner

Get these stories as they happen

Ellie starts her investigation by retracing Darleen’s movements and interviewing anyone who had contact with her on December 21st. When Ellie provokes some of the suspects who turn on her, she reaches out to the only two people in town who support her, her boss Charlie Reese and Sheriff Frank Olney. As Ellie recreates the timeline and follows every lead, determined to find out what happened to this girl she so closely identifies with, she unknowingly puts her own life in peril.

“Stone Cold Dead” is the third novel in the Ellie Stone Mystery series. Ziskin is masterful with his 1960s nostalgic descriptions and his portrayal of the difficulties for women in the workplace during that era. HIs smart and sassy protagonist, Ellie Stone, is far from perfect. Ellie is, however, liberated, impulsive, and has a personality with heart. The plot is solid with plenty of twist and turns and a powerful ending that will leave readers wanting more.

Filed Under: Books - Featured, Reviews Tagged With: book review, New Authors

Review of See Also Murder by Larry D. Sweazy

May 13, 2015 By Terry Leave a Comment

See Also MurderMarjorie Trumaine is a farmer’s wife living outside the small town of Dickinson, North Dakota in 1964. Marjorie is a skilled researcher and professional indexer, someone who is used to finding information on a topic and categorizing it. She’s working on a project for a publisher when Sheriff Hilo Jenkins arrives with horrifying news. Neighbors and good friends, Erik and Lida Knudsen, have been gruesomely murdered in their bed. While there are no apparent suspects, Jaeger and Peter, young sons of the Knudson’s, were in the house at the time of the murders.

Dickinson, being a small town, has very little crime and murder is unheard of, so the Sheriff asks Marjorie for help with the investigation by researching an amulet with unusual markings that he found in the hand of Erik. She reluctantly agrees, hoping only to have to spend a few hours in town doing the research.

Bestselling New York Times author interviews

Behind the story of Die Again with Tess Gerritsen
Behind the story of Scorched Eggs with Laura Childs
Behind the story with New York Times bestseller Cleo Coyle
Behind the story of Fear Nothing with Lisa Gardner

Get these stories as they happen

While Marjorie is working on the project for the Sheriff, she feels as though she’s being watched. She first notices it at the town library, then later at the college while visiting her cousin Raymond. She becomes nervous about having the amulet in her possession. When another murder occurs and then an attempt is made to run her off the road, Marjorie realizes she has to do more than research . . . she needs to find the murderer before she becomes the next victim.

Sweazy writes vivid descriptions of this small North Dakota town. Marjorie is a likable character, she’s smart and kind with a strong backbone. The mystery has enough surprises to keep the reader satisfied.

Filed Under: Books - Featured, Reviews Tagged With: book review, mystery

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