Terry Ambrose

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

You are here: Home / Archives for New York Times bestseller

New York Times bestseller

Review of The King’s Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal

By Leave a Comment

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.

Behind the story of Broken Bone China

By 9 Comments

BrokenBoneChina FCO 2Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. Here is the story behind her latest Tea Shop Mystery, Broken Bone China.

It’s all about competition 

“I want my readers to know that I care about them immensely and will always try to give them a rip-roaring story. I know their reading time is limited so I don’t fool around with tons of build-up and description. I drop them right into the story – with a murder in chapter one – and hope they stay for the ride!”

Laura also said this interest in her readers is why she mainly focuses on her book’s entertainment value. “These days, books no longer just compete with other books, they are jostling for share of mind with social media, cable and streaming TV, the Internet, casinos, shopping malls, professional sports, movies, etc. That’s why I try to make my mysteries laugh-out-loud funny and over-the-top exciting. I truly believe from the bottom of my adrenaline-charged heart that even a cozy mystery needs to deliver constant blips of pulse-pounding excitement to its reader. Have you ever heard of a thrillzy? Well, I coined that particular term and it perfectly describes the kind of books that I write – cozy mysteries that have the breakneck pace of a thriller. I mean, it’s fabulous to include knitting and tea drinking and crafts in a mystery – in fact, many of those past-times are my stock in trade. But I also love to flip the script and add a ginormous helping of car chases, fires, explosions, ghostly specters, romance, and crazy BFF capers.”

Attack of the drones

“I was watching an amazing hot-air balloon rally last summer and suddenly thought, ;What if a rogue drone flew in there and attacked one of the balloons?’ This so delighted me that I turned it into the kickoff chapter for Broken Bone China, my brand new Tea Shop Mystery.”

While coming up with plot lines while watching something fun like a hot-air balloon rally sounds like a lot of fun, Laura wants her readers to understand she views writing as a very serious business. “This is not a side gig that I do when the muse strikes me. I work at this all day, every day, often six days a week. Also, before I commit to a storyline, I analyze different plots, characters, and themes, trying to figure out what I think will most capture a reader’s fancy and be current and relevant. I try to be mindful and respectful of my readers’ time!”

20140226 140302sl Gerry schmitt2 300Research

“The most enjoyable thing I’ve ever done was visit a tea plantation in Japan’s Shizuoka (Kingdom of Green Tea) region. This is an area close to Mount Fuji (gorgeous!) so the volcanic soil is perfect for tea growing. There are also ryokans (guest houses), sake breweries, and spas where you can soak in a bath of hot tea!

“The craziest thing I’ve done in the guise of research was take part in Mardi Gras in New Orleans. My husband had good friends who were members of the Rex krewe so we had an instant ‘in.’ On Fat Tuesday we donned elaborate costumes and actually marched in one of the parades, enjoyed a fancy champagne brunch, tossed beads from a balcony in the French Quarter, then changed into black tie to attend the ultra-fancy Rex Ball that evening. It was a whirlwind of a day!”

Find out more about the author at laurachilds.com,

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review of Ask Me No Questions: A Lady Dunbridge Mystery

By 1 Comment

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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review of The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller

By 4 Comments

From the publisher

A big bestseller leads to small town trouble.

Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure didn’t believe in ghosts, until she was haunted by the hard-boiled spirit of 1940s private investigator Jack Shepard. Now Jack is back on the job, and Pen is eternally grateful…

After an elegant new customer has a breakdown in her shop, Penelope suspects there is something bogus behind the biggest bestseller of the year. This popular potboiler is so hot that folks in her tiny Rhode Island town are dying to read it–literally. First one customer turns up dead, followed by another mysterious fatality connected to the book, which Pen discovers is more than just fiction. Now, with the help of her gumshoe ghost, Pen must solve the real-life cold case behind the bogus bestseller before the killer closes the book on her.

My review of The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller

Who would have thought a dead gumshoe could be so much fun? Right from the beginning, the presence of a stereotypical 1930s private detective thrown into a modern world comes through loud and clear. This mystery is all about keeping things light. The dialogue between the protagonists comes through as a relationship between two people with a genuine attraction to each other.

The story moves along briskly, thanks to the banter between the two main characters. There are enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing about the whodunnit part of the mystery. This isn’t a story filled with deep character development or intense descriptions, but one that relies on an overabundance of cliches straight out of an old movie. The formula works, helping to give readers of The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller a mystery to solve along with that mysterious fun factor.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

By 17 Comments

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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Behind the story of Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea

By 1 Comment

Charlie Donlea is an international bestselling author. His latest, Don’t Believe It, is his third novel. Charlie believes a novel must call to a reader for it to be read and writes accordingly.

No issues, but there is a thread

“My novels are meant for pure escapism reading, so I don’t see them as tackling social issues in any grand form,” Charlie said. “However, a common theme between all three of my novels is society’s obsession with missing persons cases and unsolved murders. Pop-culture magazines frequently feature on their covers missing girls, some of whom have been found after being missing for years. The common questions include how they were taken, why they didn’t escape sooner, and how they are readjusting to freedom.”

The first novel, Summit Lake, dealt with a father’s attempt to keep his murdered daughter out of the tabloids as a tenacious investigative reporter arrived in the small town where the murder took place looking for answers.

The Girl Who was Taken tells the story of two abducted girls, one who returns and another who does not. The girl who makes it home goes on to write a bestselling memoir that thrusts her into the public’s eye and draws attention to parts of her story she wants to keep secret. In researching novel, Charlie visited a morgue to view an autopsy. He still recalls his reaction. “Let’s just say that noodled legs and a fuzzy head made the experience less than stellar.”

Don’t Believe It taps into the public’s obsession with true crime documentaries and tells the story of a filmmaker creating a weekly-serialized documentary that delves into the grisly details of a decade-old murder that took place in the Caribbean, and which explores the enigmatic woman who has been convicted of the crime.

“The common thread among all three stories is the public’s unquenchable thirst for the morbid details of disturbing stories,” Charlie said.

A fascination with true crime

“I’m a true crime junkie,” Charlie said. “The podcast Serial hooked me, and Making a Murderer gave me an affliction. Since then, I’ve binge watched just about every true crime documentary on Netflix. My biggest complaint about these films is that they tend to raise more questions than they answer. So I decided the story of a documentary filmmaker uncovering the secrets of ten year-old murder not only provided a great premise for a timely novel, but also gave me the ability to create as wild an ending as my imagination could conceive. I hope readers feel that the finish of Don’t Believe It not only ties up loose ends in a way real documentaries seldom do, but also provides a shocking ending that will have them ripping back through the pages to see how they missed it.”

Competition on all fronts

“I am a true believer that in order for a novel to be successful, it has to call a reader back to it after they put it down. If a book is easy to put down and hard to pick up, most readers—including myself—will give up on it. I’m hyperaware of this fact when I write. I know there is fierce competition out there from other books, television, movies, and more. So, I try to make it hard for readers to put my books down. And I make damn sure to include in the pages enough reasons for readers to pick them up again after they do.”

The Matt Damon connection

The setting of Don’t Believe It is a tropical resort in St. Lucia called Sugar Beach Resort. It’s a resort on the Jalousie Plantation that Matt Damon commandeered to renew his wedding vows. Charlie said he and his wife discovered the resort while visiting the island on Spring Break with their kids. “I thought it would make the perfect location for my novel. So much so that my wife and I returned to Sugar Beach the following year to celebrate our anniversary and do some much needed research to boot.

“My Matt Damon connection comes from a St. Lucian guide who worked for Sugar Beach. I hired him to take my wife and me on a tour of the island for my research. We asked if he drove Matt Damon or any celebrities around the island. No, he told us. But he did transport Damon’s photographer back to the airport after the vow renewal. Close enough.”

Learn more about Charlie Donlea at charliedonlea.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway