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Review of Ask Me No Questions: A Lady Dunbridge Mystery

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From the publisher of Ask Me No Questions

From New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble, Ask Me No Questions is the first in the Lady Dunbridge Mystery series featuring a widow turned sleuth in turn-of-the-twentieth century New York City.

A modern woman in 1907, Lady Dunbridge is not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She’s ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm.

From the decadence of high society balls to the underbelly of Belmont horse racing, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige.

My review

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I love the time period, the pomp and circumstance, and and the spirit of the times. In short, I came into this book with high expectations.

The story begins with a smart introduction of Philomena Amesbury, the countess of Dunbridge. Known as Phil to her friends  She has sass, is smart, and has no compunction about showing up the police.

The strength of this book is the plot and the story. It’s filled with twists that left me unsure of who the killer was until the end. For readers who like the continuity of a series, the author introduced multiple long story arcs, which will likely form the basis of future stories.

In period pieces, I look forward to being immersed in the world, but I found the descriptions and character development weak. There were times when they didn’t paint a clear picture, making it difficult to visualize the setting, the dress, the atmosphere, and others where I was quite satisfied. The one main character who really shined was Detective Sergeant John Atkins. His essence and values were clear from the beginning and remained true throughout.

This was a good story overall. I was always interested to see what was coming next and wanted to know how Phil was going to solve the crime. I’m also curious as to what her next adventure will be.

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Behind the story of Death Diamonds and Freezer Burn

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Tricia L. Sanders writes cozy mysteries and women’s fiction. Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn is the second in her Grime Pays mystery series. A former corporate trainer, Tricia has traded in her bullet points for the chance to make things up. She likes to write books in which women control their own destiny.

Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn from the headlines

“In Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn, Cece is wavering to find solid footing after a failed marriage. Instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for herself, she starts her own business,” Tricia said. “Parts of this story were from a newspaper headline I read a long time ago. I had clipped the headline and filed it away. When I started looking for ideas, I pulled this one out of the folder and it resonated with what Cece might run across in building her new business while doing a favor for an old friend.”

Living life for fun

Tricia said no one knows how many days they have left on this planet, which is why she’s committed to using hers wisely. “I’m having the most fun I can. If that means I have to put something aside to take trip, then I’ll do it.  I love to travel. I love to take photos, and I love to write. Not necessarily in that order. If I can do them at the same time, then I’m the winner.”

She added that the friends she’s made during the process of writing is the most rewarding. “I have at least a dozen or so very good friends who are writers and many, many more who have touched my life in some way or another, and the thing they all have in common is that I would not have met them had it not been for writing this book.

“I also write about friendships in my book and explore the friendship of longtime friends, like Cece and Angie, and friends we’ve grown distant from, but who still fill our hearts with good memories like Carla.  And there’s also the new friendships that bloom when unlikely women share a common goal which eventually leads to friendship—like Cece and Nancy. There’s also some one-sided male/female relationships in the book like Cece and Grant Hunter. She’s attracted to him as a friend, but he is obviously looking for a deeper connection.”

One of the things Tricia did for fun, but has now decided must make its way into a future book was riding in a hot air balloon. “I will definitely use that experience in a story. I look forward to Cece and Detective Alder taking a hot air balloon ride. I’m sure there will be a blip though, and it won’t all be fun and games.”

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Review of Back Stabbers by Julie Mulhern

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From the publisher of Back Stabbers

All Ellison Russell wanted was an update on her stock portfolio. Instead, she found her broker dead.

With an unexpected out-of-town guest at her house, Ellison is too busy for a murder investigation. Only this time, Detective Anarchy Jones wants her help, and she can’t deny the handsome detective. Can Mr. Coffee supply her with enough caffeine to keep her brain sharp and everyone else happy?

Juggling bodies (one, two, three, four), two-faced friends, her social calendar, and a cat (yes, a cat) is taxing but Mother might be the biggest challenge of all.

With a killer drawing closer, can Ellison put together the pieces or will she be the one getting stabbed in the back?

My review

This cute cozy is filled with humor, twists-and-turns, and a look back to seventies high society. It’s a fun read with crisp dialogue and quirky characters. I especially liked the scene in which there is a literal cat-and-dog fight that results in plenty of mayhem. I don’t want to spoil the surprise of where the cat winds up, but it had me laughing out loud.

The identity if the killer isn’t clear until the end thanks to red herrings and some deft plotting. Relationships between the characters feel real—even when they’re the deliberately contrived relationships of people who mix socially but dislike each other. This creates some delicious backbiting which we, as readers, get to enjoy.

Book & a Latte Contest

What: This month, Julie is giving away one e-book copy of “Back Stabbers” and I’m adding a $5.00 Starbucks gift card. One random entry will be chosen as the winner. The 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 anyone 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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Behind the story of A Crafter Knits a Clue by Holly Quinn

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Holly Quinn is both an avid reader and crafter. She sells her artistic creations locally and dreamed of one day opening a gift shop to sell local artist’s handiwork. Instead, she began writing about it, which is how the Handcrafted Mystery series was born. A Crafter Knits a Clue is the first book in the series.

A Crafter Knits a Clue comes from a love of crafting

Holly said that as someone who paints, quilts, sews, and gardens, she’s always fantasized about owning a local shop where townspeople could sell their wares. “I’m genuinely interested and seek to purchase handcrafted items as they are vastly unique and created with love… much like writing. However, I also LOVE a good mystery. I combined the two and voila! My books are written strictly from a very curious mind. My mother always said as a child I asked way too many questions. Why does this happen? Why did that happen? It’s why I LOVE a good mystery. I’m always looking for what isn’t said or what is hidden within the text, people’s motives etc.… In that way alone, I’m much like my main character, Sammy Kane.”

Pouring everything into writing

“I take this writing gig very seriously,” Holly said. “I often begin my workday in the wee hours of the morning—like 4 AM with plenty of coffee. I hope in doing so, readers are entertained to the point of not wanting to put the book down and my work ‘stands out’ in a flooded market. Writing and art are the only times I feel the freedom of ‘living in the moment.’ The minute I’m done writing or creating, my mind is completely unfocused and seriously a bit attention deficit to be honest.”

Holly said there are three characters in the book who share the initials S.H.E. “The initials  represent SHE Detective Agency—a pretend club from their youth. This was based on an actual club I had created during my grade school years which I teased someday I would write about … and here I am! If you liked reading Nancy Drew as a child as much as I did, this series might be right up your alley!”

Christmas in July

“While working on the holiday book for this series, I purchased an essential oil necklace and breathed in the scent of Christmas during the hot and humid summer to think Christmas thoughts. And watched a lot of Christmas in July on Hallmark! I told my husband he might come home from work to find the house decorated, lights blinking, the air-conditioning set to full blast, and a house full of people ready to spend a fictional holiday.

Learn more about Holly Quinn and the Handcrafted Mystery series at www.authorhollyquinn.com.

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Behind the story of Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Disappearing Diva

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Before becoming a New York Times Best-selling author, Gemma Halliday went through a number of careers. According to her website, she’s been a film and television actress, a teddy bear importer, a department store administrator, a preschool teacher, a temporary tattoo artist, and a 900 number psychic. These days, Gemma has found her niche—writing mysteries. Here’s the story behind her latest, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Disappearing Diva.

The classics

“I grew up reading mystery classics such as the Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, so the idea for the Marty Hudson Mysteries came directly from those. I really liked the idea of bringing about a female-driven, modern take on the legend of Sherlock Holmes. It was very important to me that women be the main protagonists in the story, so I began combing some of the Sherlock Holmes literature for some of the lesser-known female characters that might make interesting subjects of the new series. Turns out, there really aren’t that many important female characters in this series! The most prominent one was probably Irene Adler.

“In the original Sherlock Holmes stories, Irene Adler is portrayed somewhat as the ‘one who got away’ and the only woman Sherlock Holmes ever really loved. She was the one woman he saw as an intellectual equal. In our version of the Sherlock legend, Irene Adler is not only beautiful and intelligent—being a computer prodigy who began her career by hacking into the Pentagon as a child—but she’s also fun, fashionable, and never takes no for an answer. Irene plays the sidekick to our main character, Marty Hudson, who is very loosely based on Sherlock Holmes’ long-suffering landlady at 221 Baker St. in the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle versions.

“In our world, Marty Hudson inherits a dilapidated Victorian at 221 Baker St.—in modern-day San Francisco, not Victorian England—and she struggles to rehabilitate the old home on her salary as a barista at the Stanford University Bookstore Café. One perk of working at Stanford? Marty has access to crash as many lectures and classes as she possibly can, gaining her an eclectic knowledge base that leads to many ‘Sherlockian’ moments throughout the series.”

Girl power

“I write for readers not for myself. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as an author is that you have to know who your audience is. If I’m speaking in a language that no one around me understands, I haven’t got a prayer of getting my message across to anyone. But if I listen to my readers and understand what it is they want to hear, I can get my message out loud and clear.”

With that mantra as her guiding principle, Gemma says most of her books have a very clear theme of “girl power.”

“Many of my characters reflect my own personality in that they are very girly, they love dressing up in pretty clothes, shoes, and jewelry, and embrace their feminine sides completely. But men should never mistake their girliness for weakness. I’m a firm believer in the idea that a woman can wear a fabulously adorable pink outfit and still be a boss in the boardroom. I think a lot of times in society, and in literature as well, women are either portrayed as strong or girly. In my books I try to portray women who can be both. You will find a lot of beautiful, bubbly, fabulously dressed, incredibly intelligent women in my stories. And while they have a healthy appreciation for the men in their lives, none of them rely on those men to take care of them or ‘save them’ from any of the difficult situations they may encounter.”

The partnership

Gemma said her favorite thing about writing the Marty Hudson Mysteries is working with her co-author, Kelly Rey. “While a lot of the plotting and mystery elements in the book are things I like to do, Kelly has an absolute knack for writing hilarious scenes and quirky characters. So many times while I was working on this book I found myself laughing out loud at something that Kelly had written. I feel so fortunate to have a job where my days are infused with laughter like that!”

At one point, Gemma and Kelly were trying to figure out exactly how their victim should meet her demise. Gemma said, “Kelly had already written some really wonderful scenes that I wanted to keep in the book, however we had written ourselves into a corner with how we would work in the actual way our victim had been killed with those existing scenes. As my family can tell you, I probably sounded like a crazy woman walking around my house for three days muttering to myself, ‘How am I going to kill her?’ I can only hope that ‘Alexa’ never records any of the conversations in my house. If she did, the police would for sure be at my front door!”

Learn more about Gemma Halliday or Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Disappearing Diva at gemmahalliday.com.

Book & a Latte Contest

What: This month, Gemma is giving away one Kindle copy of “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Brash Blonde” and I’m adding a $5.00 Starbucks gift card. One random entry will be chosen as the winner. The 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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Behind the story of Death on the Menu by Lucy Burdette

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Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib) is the author of the Key West Food Critic Mystery series. A former clinical psychologist, she’s published sixteen mysteries. Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. Her latest Key West Food Critic Mystery is Death on the Menu. 

Behind the story of Death on the Menu

“Over the course of the sixteen books I’ve written, I didn’t set out to highlight an issue as I wrote. However, I can’t think of one book where a theme or an important issue didn’t emerge during the process. The Key West Food Critic mysteries are obviously set in Key West. And luckily for me, Key West is full of conflict. Sitting as it does at the end of the string of tropical islands, it is a draw for tourists and homeless folks and rich folks and artists and musicians and everything in between. It also turned out to be a magnet for Cuban refugees who were trying to escape the political repression in their own country.

“Up until 2014, the ‘wet-foot dry-foot’ policy was in place in the US. This meant that refugees who landed with one foot on American soil were not turned back to Cuba. Unfortunately, it also put lives in danger because of the ramshackle crafts on which people attempted the 90 mile crossing between Havana and Key West. This conflict about immigration is woven throughout Death on the Menu. But understand, I did not set out to write a book about immigration–it’s just how the writing process works!”

Lucy said he idea for the book started with the Cuban boats and refugees that dominate the Key West news almost every week. “There is a display of these boats, called chugs, at the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden. They will break your heart. Also, my husband and I took a trip to Cuba in 2014 and learned more about that island’s history and its relationship with Key West and the United States. All of that led me to imagine that a fictional conference attempting to draw Havana and Key West into discussions could be a great backdrop for a murder mystery.”

Lucy on characters, contracts, and cops

“As a former clinical psychologist, the development of the characters is what interests me most about a mystery series,” Lucy said. “I don’t enjoy reading about a character who doesn’t change over the course of the series, and probably the part of the book that comes easily to me is imagining how Hayley is growing, along with the cast of characters around her. When people ask me if my books stand alone, I always say the mysteries themselves do stand alone. But if you have a strong interest in the characters’ relationships and development, better to start at the beginning.”

After Killer Takeout, the seventh book in the series, Penguin and Random House merged and terminated many of their cozy mystery authors’ contracts. Lucy said, “This was a business decision made after the merger and it affected a large number of cozy mystery writers. So I am thrilled to have this chance to extend the stories through Crooked Lane Books. This is the first time I’ll have a book out in both hardcover and audiobook formats. I’m so excited and very nervous about how it will go. All fingers and toes are crossed, hoping that you’ll love it…”

When Lucy was writing her golf mystery series, she spent her advance on playing in the professional-amateur tournament that the ladies professional golf Association holds before each major tournament. She said, “I got to play with two name pros—my husband caddied for me—and ask them all kinds of questions about life on the golf tour. It was truly a wonderful experience!

“But the most fun I’ve had with the Key West series has to be attending the citizens’ police academy sponsored by the Key West police department. We learned all kinds of tidbits about traffic stops, making arrests, how the SWAT team works, and more. And I went on a ride along with a lovely young officer toward the end of the classes. It was a night shift, and I think he was a little bit astonished when I told him I needed to be home, tucked in bed, by midnight….”

Learn more about Lucy Burdette at lucyburdette.com.