Jane Reads, and Bakes, and Cooks, and Sews, and....
When Jesse Morgan’s boss and best friend died, she inherited Private Spies, a private investigation firm that specialized in missing persons. Unfortunately, she knew little about the business aside from her intensive work on the computer. But if Joey thought she could handle it, she felt obligated to at least give it a try. How hard could it be, right?
So Jesse took on her first case. Very straightforward. This guy is missing, find him. Oh but wait, he also kidnapped his own daughter. Find her too. Still not that hard. Except when she ran his report, the picture she found on his drivers license is of another guy. And when she found a guy who matched the first picture, he had another name. And when she found a girl that looked like the daughter, she didn’t match anything. Not good.
Enter a retired police officer named Byron (really?) who says before Joey died, he hired him to work for them. Ok. This might be helpful. But then came a stalker, and a dead guy, a dead
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| Kinsey Millhone Mystery #23 |
Two dead bodies changed the course of my life that fall. One of them I knew and the other I'd never laid eyes on until I saw him in the morgue.
The first was a local PI of suspect reputation. He’d been gunned down near the beach at Santa Teresa. It looked like a robbery gone bad. The other was on the beach six weeks later. He’d been sleeping rough. Probably homeless. No identification. A slip of paper with Millhone’s name and number was in his pants pocket. The coroner asked her to come to the morgue to see if she could ID him.
Two seemingly unrelated deaths, one a murder, the other apparently of natural causes.
But as Kinsey digs deeper into the mystery of the John Doe, some very strange linkages begin to emerge. And before long at least one aspect is solved as Kinsey literally finds the key to his identity. And just like that,” she says, the lid to Pandora’s box flew open. It would take me another day before I understood how many imps had been freed, but for the moment, I was inordinately pleased with myself.”
In this multilayered tale, the surfaces seem clear, but the underpinnings are full of betrayals, misunderstandings, and outright murderous fraud. And Kinsey, through no fault of her own, is thoroughly compromised.
W is for . . . wanderer . . . worthless . . . wronged . . .
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| "While the rest of the human race are descended from monkeys, redheads derive from cats." |
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| The Whole Enchilada, by Diane Mott Davidson |
From Goodreads:
Goldy Schulz knows her food is to die for, but she never expects one of her best friends to actually keel over when she's leaving a birthday party Goldy has catered. At first, everyone assumes that all the fun and excitement of the party, not to mention the rich fare, did her in.
But what looks like a coronary turns out to be a generous serving of cold-blooded murder. And the clever culprit is just getting cooking.
When a colleague—a woman who resembles Goldy—is stabbed, and Goldy is attacked outside her house, it becomes clear that the popular caterer is the main course on a killer menu. With time running out, Goldy must roll up her sleeves, sharpen her knives, and make a meal out of a devious murderer, before that killer can serve her up cold.
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| Private Spies, by PJ Nunn |
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| Poisoned Waters, by Ermisenda Alvarez |
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| Emerald Isle, by Barbra Annino |
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| Blog Tour: Poisoned Waters |
I have always wanted to write a crime novel on a cruise ship. Cluedo has always been an enjoyable board game and even while playing it I would envision stories for the characters. I tried to weave Cluedo-esque themes into the crime novel and emphasised the noir and vintage ambience by placing the novel in the 1950s. I didn’t want to have to deal with the technology of the recent times, I wanted to isolate these characters and play with their unfortunate circumstances. Also, I have paid attention to TV series and noticed how often they have multiple character perspectives. This was another driving factor in having multiple main characters because it kept the plot fast but it also allowed for numerous subplots to be explored. The multiple languages and nationalities was something I added because as a Spanish Australian dating a Dutch man, I have been fascinated with multiple nationalities and the wonders of different languages.
From this novel, I feel like my favourite character is Sylvia. She is a flawed individual who wants more from her life than what she has so far. Trapped in a decade where women are subservient to their husbands, she struggles to find happiness there. Since she is Dutch, it was a fun challenge to slide Dutch phrases during her scenes. Another favourite of mine is Harold. His love for his wife makes my heart melt. Even though he struggles with her absence, I find him to be one of the strongest characters.
It might be cheesy but I love all my characters for different reasons. Due to the nature of this novel, I also hate many aspects of all the characters. They are truly flawed and their dramas were entertaining to play out.
One of my favourite mottos that my dad always reminded me was, ‘Depend only on yourself.’ Sometimes, I wish I had a mentor to help me along the way. But you know what, I learnt the things I have needed so far regardless. I learnt the hard way but I will never make the same mistake again. I’ve surprised myself and I have found the self-publishing journey thus far to be one of the most challenging but also rewarding experiences for myself personally. The motto doesn’t mean so much that you shouldn’t have help or collaborate. I’m currently co-authoring an urban fantasy series so I love working with others. But I think the motto just really emphasises the need to believe in yourself and that at the end of the day, if you can’t do it, maybe you should learn how to. Gain more skills so you can become more self-sufficient and hopefully, help others too.
Thank you for the compliment. When I was about 12 I wrote lots of Harry Potter fanfiction. A way to promote your novel online was to also include a story banner, just like a book cover but with different dimensions. At first I had someone do my covers but eventually I decided I wanted to create the art for my own. I have always loved art and I thought, why not add another skill? There are so many great graphic design forums full of young people, some amateurs and many highly talented. That’s where I practiced and practiced. In the last few years, I’ve honed in on book covers because I noticed there was a real shortage of pleasant covers amongst self-publishing authors (some are absolutely cringe-worthy). Hence, I have a free book cover page on the blog. For any author to take advantage of.
From Michelle's website: I hope you will join me for the week of July 22. We will start on Monday, 7/22 at 12:00am CST and finish on Sunday, 7/28 at 11:59pm CST (adjust times according to your time zone). Read what you like during the week. I've decided it's not about quantity, but quality (although those who rock the quantity...I salute you!). So, if you have kids and want to read children's books, go for it! As always, this is a week long read-a-thon, but you can join in and read whenever it's convenient for you. It's all about being laid back and getting some reading done.
You do not have to have a blog. You can sign up using your Goodreads, Twitter, or Facebook accounts.
If you are planning on joining me (I hope so), please sign up in the linky here.
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The Iggy Chronicles, Volume One:A Chet and Bernie Mystery eShort Story,by Spencer Quinn |
“Last summer we had A Cat Was Involved,” Admin says. “I hear there’s another e-story in the works for this summer.”
“I hear the same thing,” says Spence.
“Do we have a title?”
“Two possibilities at the moment.”
“Yes?”
“Iggy in the Wind is one. The other is The Iggy Chronicles, Volume 1.”
“I gather the subject matter concerns Iggy.”
“Say no more.”
“I understand there’s a new e-short story coming in August,” Admin says.
“The Iggy Chronicles, Volume 1,” says Spence.
“I’m assuming that Iggy, Chet’s best pal but a virtual prisoner in the Parsons’s house for just about the whole series, gets loose at last?”
“I’m not authorized to reveal any details.”
“Huh? Authorized by whom?”
“The IRS now has an Authorizing Division that governs the actions of authors. The accountant says not to upset them.”
Admin: Is it true that Iggy is in fact the hero of this new e-story?
Spence: I really don’t want to give too much away.
Admin: But supposing, for the sake of argument, that Iggy does turn out to be the hero. I’m wondering how Chet might take that.
Spence: I really don’t want to give too much away.
