Terry Ambrose

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

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Review of The King’s Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal

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The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal

From the publisher of The King’s Justice

Could a stolen violin be linked to a serial killer terrorizing London during World War II? Only secret agent extraordinaire Maggie Hope knows in this riveting mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Churchill’s Secretary.

London. December, 1942. As the Russian army repels German forces from Stalingrad, Maggie Hope, secret agent and spy, takes a break from the Special Operations Executive division to defuse bombs in London. But Maggie herself is like an explosion waiting to happen. Shaken by a recent case, she finds herself living more dangerously–taking more risks than usual, smoking again, drinking gin and riding a motorcycle–and the last thing she wants is to get entangled in another crime. But when she’s called upon to look into a stolen Stradivarius, one of the finest violins ever made, Maggie finds the case too alluring to resist.

Meanwhile, there’s a serial killer on the loose in London and Maggie’s skills are in demand. Little does she know that in the process of investigating this dangerous predator, she will come face to face with a new sort of evil…and discover a link between the precious violin and the murders no one could ever have expected.

My review

Unfortunately, this series took a turn to the dark side of human frailties in the last book that carried over into The King’s Justice. Maggie’s mental state has begun to drag down the series. Hopefully, this will turn around in future books because this is generally a great series with lots of information about World War II and what it took to win.

As usual, the writing is excellent, characters are believable, and dialogue is realistic. With the rich setting of WWII Great Britain, this series is a true winner. MacNeal’s ability to describe the setting of the war and the time period is exemplary. While this is a good story with a strong ending in which Maggie’s mental state improves, the darkness Maggie goes through to get to that ending may turn off readers who read about and loved the strong character we knew as Maggie Hope.

Learn more about Susan Elia MacNeal and The King’s Justice at www.susaneliamacneal.com. Want more book news? If so, click here to read my Behind the Story interviews from your favorite authors.

Say hello to my friends at Booklovers Bench

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Authors of Booklovers Bench

On February 1, I’ll be officially joining the Booklovers Bench crew. I was a member of this group a few years ago, left for a while, but now I’m back. The thing I love about the group these days is it’s all cozy mystery authors. From cozy cooks to crafts to quaint B&B’s, we’ve all got a side of murder with a tale to tell. If you like your mysteries cozy, why not check out our the books from my fellow cozyists? Find us all at bookloversbench.com. And remember to check the Booklovers Bench website after February 1 so you can join our monthly contest!

A Bad Hair Day Cookbook

Nancy J. Cohen

A Bad Hair Day Cookbook
Want to spice up your meals with some hot new recipes? A Bad Hair Day Cookbook includes 160 easy recipes along with excerpts, cooking tips, and anecdotes written by savvy sleuth Marla Vail. Whether you’re a skilled cook or an eager novice, this cookbook will bring you good cheer.

Three Treats Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein

Debra Goldstein

Three Treats Too Many
A Sarah Blair Mystery
When a romantic rival opens a competing restaurant in small-town Wheaton, Alabama, Sarah Blair discovers murder is the specialty of the house. For someone whose greatest culinary skill is ordering takeout, Sarah must turn up the heat on the real culprit, who has no reservations about committing cold-blooded murder.

Still Knife Painting by Cheryl Hollon

Cheryl Hollon

Still Knife Painting
A Paint and Shine Mystery
Miranda Trent has set up a sweet life in a scenic corner of Appalachia—until she stumbles across the trail of a killer …

After inheriting her uncle’s homestead in Eastern Kentucky, Miranda Trent decides to host a summer event featuring painting and moonshine. The event is a total success—until someone kills the cook. If Miranda can’t prove her innocence, she’ll be in a jail cell faster than she can say white lightning.

Peachy Scream by Anna Gerard

Diane Stuckart (aka Anna Gerard)

Peachy Scream
A Georgia B&B Mystery
Georgia B&B proprietor Nina Fleet fears something is rotten in Cymbeline during that town’s annual Shakespeare festival, when the visiting troupe’s “Hamlet” turns up dead in her garden. Certain his demise is murder most foul, Nina joins the troupe’s director–her sometimes-nemesis, Harry Westcott–in a plot to upstage a killer.

Spawning Suspicion by Maggie Toussaint

Maggie Toussaint

Spawning Suspicion
A Seafood Caper Mystery
The death of a former high school athlete registers on caterer River Holloway’s radar when her brother and his girlfriend are accused of the murder. Certain of their innocence, the amateur sleuth investigates while catering weddings and banquets in this second book of the Seafood Caper Mysteries.

A Sew Deadly Cruise by Lois Winston

Lois Winston

A Sew Deadly Cruise
An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 9
On a family cruise, newly engaged crafts editor Anastasia Pollack encounters a man with an unusual interest in her engagement ring. Her fiancé suggests he’s a jewel thief scouting his next mark. But when the man reappears, his sinister motive threatens everyone Anastasia holds dear. And that’s before the first body surfaces.

Click here to read my Behind the Story interviews from your favorite authors.

Friday Fotos – on the docks in Russell, New Zealand

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Welcome to Russell
From the docks to the town, Russell was an amazing little place. We loved it and found great gelato!

This photo was taken on the docks in Russell, New Zealand as we departed the MS Noordam for our day trip in town. There’s always a lot of hype about the ports of call prior to and during a cruise, but Russell lived up to the advance information in every way. It’s a lovely little town, and that begins right when you disembark. We had a great time touring Russell and only wished we had several days to stay. Alas, our trip was short and fast, but delightful nonetheless.

Learn more about Russell, New Zealand at russellnz.co.nz. Want to see more photos from our trip? Here’s a link where you can check out all the entries in our travel journal.

Excerpt from Murder Can Haunt Your Handiwork by Rose Pressey

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Murder Can Haunt Your Handiwork tour graphic
Murder Can Haunt Your Handiwork cover

It’s not just murder that can haunt your handiwork, but also our health. Today’s guest poster was unable to finish the post because of complications due to a surgery. In place of the guest post for Murder Can Haunt Your Handiwork, here’s an excerpt. Best of all, there’s still a giveaway!

“Oh no. I can see the amateur sleuth wheels turning in your head. Maybe it would be a good idea if you didn’t get involved,” Caleb said.

“Not get involved? Not get involved?” I gestured widely with my hand. “I have to get involved now. I’m practically a detective on the case now. After all, I was the first one on the scene. That means I have to get involved.”

“Wait just a minute,” Pierce said.

I hadn’t realized that he had stepped beside me.

“There are plenty of detectives here to handle the case, and I think they have everything under control,” Pierce added.

“Pierce is right. They can handle this, Celeste,” Caleb said.

Now they were agreeing with each other? I would humor Caleb and Pierce and act as if I weren’t getting involved, but I knew I would. Seeing the woman like that just made me want to help her. It was heartbreaking. We had to know who did this to her. I had faith in the detectives, of course, but I was sure they could use some help.

Who couldn’t use help every now and then?

Caleb and Pierce stared at me suspiciously. I had to pretend that I agreed with them.

“Okay, I guess you guys are right,” I said with a smile.

Did that seem genuine? I needed to work on my acting skills.

“I think it’s time we got you out of here,” Caleb said, taking me by the arm.

Pierce took my other arm. “Yes, that’s a good idea.”

Now I was being escorted out of the building. This wouldn’t look good, either. At least I wasn’t in handcuffs.

Being escorted by two handsome men wasn’t so terrible.

Though the rivalry between them was getting out of control.

Rose Pressey

When we stepped out into the bright sunshine, Pierce and Caleb released their hold on me. I shielded my eyes until they adjusted to the light. A crowd had gathered just beyond the taped-off area. News crews had arrived. Several vans, with their stations’ call letters written across the sides, were parked close by. Since the reporters’ attention was focused on us as we walked toward them, I knew we would be bombarded with questions.

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Thanks for stopping by! Click here to read my Behind the Story interviews and guest posts from your favorite authors.

Review of A Deadly Discovery by J.C. Kenney

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A Deadly Discovery by J.C. Kenney

From the publisher

Certain she’s seen more than enough death for one lifetime, literary agent Allie Cobb is ready to close the book on her amateur sleuthing, even when she learns that an unidentified body has been unearthed in a local state park. But when a worn and haunted-looking woman shows up on her doorstep with a grim story about her young daughter’s disappearance twenty years ago—and the police confirm that the recently discovered body is hers—Allie can’t bear to turn the poor woman away.

Determined to uncover the truth about the young woman’s murder, Allie begins delving into the circumstances of her life and those she knew so many years before. And when she meets powerful resistance from those she questions—many of whom are now trusted leaders in her small, tight-knit community—she’s sure she’s on the right track. But as she narrows down the list of suspects, Allie realizes too late that a cold-blooded killer is dead-set on keeping the secrets of the past buried, and it will take all her wit and cunning to avoid becoming the second young woman to meet an untimely end …

My review of A Deadly Discovery

Never having read the Allie Cobb Mysteries, I was immediately interested in A Deadly Discovery based on a quick read of the first few pages, during which I took an immediate liking to the main character. In the beginning, the writing felt tight and the plot moved quickly. With the character actions described clearly and good dialogue, it felt like we were off to a great start.

The story did slow down, however, near the middle, primarily because the author fell into what I call the cozy-mystery trap—summarizing what’s about to happen in a paragraph before getting into the action or dialogue. A certain amount of this writing style is perfectly normal, and almost unavoidable, but it just became too much of a regular occurrence for my taste. While this won’t bother many cozy fans, who gobble up this style freely, I found it an impediment to moving the story forward.

Overall, the story will appeal to traditional mystery fans thanks to it’s plot, likable protagonist, and smooth dialogue, but the cozy fans are going to love Ursi (the cat), who sometimes steals the show.

FTC Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by its publisher.

Did you like this review? If so, click here to check out my Behind the Story interviews from your favorite authors.

The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James

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The Broken Spine tour graphic
The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James

Dorothy St. James is the pen name for award-winning author, Dorothy McFalls. Dorothy writes in several different genres. The Broken Spine is the first in her Beloved Bookroom Mystery series.

Warring worlds

“The Broken Spine explores the tension between living in the digital world and the analog world,” Dorothy said. “My heroine, Trudell Becket loves her library so much that when it’s being converted into a ‘bookless’ library she does something outrageous. She opens a secret ‘bookroom’ in the basement of the library where she works. The bookroom is a throwback to libraries of another era with a card catalog and book slips for checking out the books. Change can be difficult, painful. In the case of the changes coming to the Cypress library, that change is murder.”

Do bookless libraries exist?

“I read an article about a bookless library opening in Texas. It got me to thinking about how I would feel if my library went completely digital. I read mainly digital books, and yet the thought of the books leaving my local library made me feel anxious. I wouldn’t want that to happen. I then started to play ‘what if’ games in my head. What if I were a librarian in that library? What would I do? I far would I go to save those books?”

Dorothy St James, author of The Broken Spine

Dorothy said she wants prospective readers to know that she’s not against technology. “I love all the new gadgets. I don’t know what I’d do without my smart phone. But at the same time, I’m a nut when it comes to books. I have such lovely childhood memories from my time spent at the library. My daughter adores going to the library to find treasures to read. She rarely goes in with a book in mind. She simply wanders around in the stacks and picks up anything that appeals to her. This isn’t something she could do online.”

Oh, and for those who truly have inquiring minds, Dorothy said, “I love cats! I hate cooking.”

Learning about libaries

Dorothy said that one of the problem she faced in writing this series is that she’s not a librarian, nor has she been through the training and education librarians undergo for their work. “This was a problem since my protagonist, Trudell Becket is (in addition to being an amazing sleuth) the assistant librarian of the Cypress library. While I did have extensive experience working in government, I knew that it wasn’t quite the same thing. To write this series, I needed to get into the minds of local librarians.” Fortunately for Dorothy, she learned that librarians love to share their knowledge.

“I love to research my books. Sometimes I must remind myself to stop researching and start writing already. For the White House Gardener Mystery series, I stalked secret service agents through Lafayette Park at three AM in the morning to see how difficult it would be to murder someone there. (It’s possible.) For the Southern Chocolate Shop Mysteries series, I learned how to make my own chocolate from cacao beans. I also tasted many, many different types of chocolates in the name of research. While writing books for that series, I always eat some chocolate before sitting down at the computer because…research.”

For the Beloved Bookroom Mystery series, Dorothy took part in many of her local library’s activities. She joined tai chi classes, took sewing classes, art classes, attended plays, and author talks. “I was amazed at how libraries are changing. They’re becoming vibrant community centers that also have books.”

Learn more about Dorothy St. James and The Broken Spine at www.dorothystjames.com. Did you like this interview? If so, click here to read more Behind the Story interviews from your favorite authors.

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