Chicken Culprit by Vikki Walton | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

The Blurb

Check Out the First Book in the New Backyard Farming Mystery Series.

Finally healing after her heart-breaking divorce, Anne Freemont is ready to put the painful past behind her.

Discovering an old Victorian for sale in the small mountain town of Carolan Springs may be just what she needs. The beauty of Colorado beckons, so Anne heads west to start her new life.

Yet, before Anne's completely settled in, her neighbor is found dead in his compost pile. What’s worse is that Anne’s quirky young neighbor, Kandi Jenkins, could be the killer. When Kandi begs for her help, Anne feels she has no choice but to help the young woman.

However, she finds herself quickly at odds with the local sheriff. And while she uncovers more of the community's secrets, she's also exploring her awakening feelings for Sam Powers, the town's deputy coroner.

Once Anne starts looking at who could be the real killer, the suspect list keeps getting longer and longer. It seems that Carolan Springs is a place of many secrets. But who would want to murder Ralph and who’s willing to kill again to keep their secret?

Chicken Culprit by Vikki Walton 
Series: A Backyard Farming Mystery, #1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: February 12, 2018
Publisher: Morewellson, LTD
Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 0999440209
ISBN-13: 978-0999440209
eBook File Size: 398 KB
ASIN: B079SS1C4S  
Kindle [currently on sale for 99¢] | Amazon | Goodreads 

The Excerpt

Scone Cold Killer by Lena Gregory | Release Tour with Excerpt and Giveaway

Scone Cold Killer by Lena Gregory

Series: All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery, #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: January 23, 2018

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Paperback: 192 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1516104659

e-Book File Size: 2997 KB

ASIN: B06Y52XG4B

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Goodreads

The Blurb

Murder, She Slopes by Rachael Stapleton | Book Blast Spotlight with Giveaway

Murder, She Slopes by Rachael Stapleton
Series: A Penning Trouble Mystery, #2

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Self Published

Publication Date: November 26, 2017
Print Length: 214 pages
eBook File Size: 2469 KB
ASIN: B075CTKP2B

Purchase Link: Amazon

The Blurb

Ditched 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton | Release Tour Spotlight and Giveaway

Ditched 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton
Series: A Sophie Kimball Mystery, #2

Genre: Cozy Mystery 

Publication Date: November 28, 2017
Publisher: Kensington
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 1496708571
ISBN-13: 978-1496708571
e-Book File Size: 1243 KB
ASIN: B06XFL7N93
Amazon | B & N | BAM! | Kobo | iBooks | Overdrive | IndieBound | Goodreads

The Blurb

Deadspeak 2 by Ruth Bainbridge | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

The Blurb

DEADSPEAK2. The chilling new entry in the Deadspeak Mystery Series.

Things look different when you're dead.

It’s Halloween and a group of teens throw a party at Harbinger Falls’ most celebrated haunted estate. It’s all fun and games until a session with a Ouija board guides the partygoers to the body of a young girl hidden in the attic. 

Detective Kimberly Trent is assigned the case and quickly discovers that all is not as it seems. First, there’s the connection between the death and a string of petnappings terrorizing the neighborhood. Then there’s the suicide note that only leaves more questions than answers. A visit from Kimberly’s ghostly friend Griff Lindon sheds an unwelcome light. It seems she’s had a run in with the newly deceased who tells her she’s been murdered. 

This is the second in The Deadspeak Mysteries. The entries are meant to be read in sequential order and do not stand alone. In each book, you’ll find a new murder for Kimberly Trent to solve. You’ll also find the continuing search for who murdered Kim’s sister Elizabeth. Each book will take you closer and closer to finding out the identity of The Hex Killer, the serial killer who ended Elizabeth’s short life. It will also bring you to the heart of the evil that’s come back to life to wreak revenge.

Deadspeak 2 by Ruth Bainbridge 
Series: The Deadspeak Mysteries, #2
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal
Release Date: September 12, 2017
Self Published 
eBook File Size: 1557 KB
Print Length: 481 pages
ASIN: B0759YG1Z4  
Amazon | Smashwords | Goodreads 

The Excerpt

Murder, She Floats By Rachael Stapleton | Book Blast with Review and Giveaway

The Blurb

It's the end of the summer and Journalist Penelope Trubble has returned home to help her father with the Private Eye business. With a contest prize of ten thousand dollars on the line, the town is full of summer vacationers on the hunt for the rare 1913 Liberty Head nickel that was lost to Bohemian Lake over fifty years ago. 

With the help of spitfire local Eve Berns, and Cody Lumos, the town's handsome new detective, amateur sleuth Lucky Penny takes the bait and goes diving for the story behind the legend of the million dollar coin. Unfortunately, her dive turns up more bodies than missing treasure. The deeper she digs, the more secrets she finds hidden in the sand, but will she be buried along with them?

Murder, She Floats by Rachael Stapleton
Series: A Penning Trouble Mystery, #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Self Published

Publication Date: August 29, 2017
Print Length: 126 pages
eBook File Size: 2417 KB
ASIN: B074B4J7SJ

Amazon | Goodreads

The Review

Audition for Murder by P.M. Carlson | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

Book Blast on August 1, 2017

The Blurb

Actors Nick and Lisette O’Connor need a change. They leave New York City for a semester as artists-in-residence at a college upstate, where they take on the roles of Claudius and Ophelia, two of the professional leads in a campus production of Hamlet. Threats and accidents begin to follow Lisette, and Nick worries it might be more than just petty jealousy. Maggie Ryan, a student running lights for the show, helps investigate a mystery steeped in the turmoil of 1967 America.

Don't Miss These Great Reviews:

"P.M. Carlson's energetic and insightful novels are back in print — hallelujah!" — Sara Paretsky

"An extremely well-written tale, with a plotline that offers a jolt per page." — CF, Booklist

"Very literate, sprinkled with surprises and offering that rarity of rarities — fully fleshed out characters." — Bob Ellison, Los Angeles Daily News

Audition for Murder by P.M. Carlson
Series: A Maggie Ryan Mystery, #1

Genre: Mystery 

Publication Date: September 28, 2012; 2nd Ed.
Publisher: The Mystery Company / Crum Creek Press 
Paperback: 236 pages
ISBN-10: 1932325212
ISBN-13: 978-1932325218
e-Book File Size: 601 KB
ASIN: B009J1D4ZY
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Powells | Goodreads

The Excerpt

Booked 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

The Blurb

Never judge a book by its cover...

Sophie “Phee” Kimball is not a cop. She’s a divorced, middle-aged mom who works as an account clerk for the police department in a small city in Minnesota. But her retired mother, Harriet Plunkett, is convinced Phee is the only one who can solve the mystery of a cursed book. According to Harriet, four members of her book club have already succumbed to the deadly curse. Harriet insists Phee catch the next plane to her retirement community in Sun City West, Arizona, to investigate.

Is her mother just bored and lonely? She does have a new pet — a long-haired chiweenie (half Chihuahua, half Dachshund) — for company and a host of pals (although that number is admittedly dwindling). Phee is certain that their book club selection isn’t cursed, but is somebody really knocking off the ladies? As Phee starts to uncover dark secrets hidden in plain sight under the blazing Arizona sun, she’ll need to read between the lines before it’s someone else’s final chapter....

Booked 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton
Series: A Sophie Kimball Mystery, #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery 

Publication Date: June 27, 2017
Publisher: Kensington
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1496708555
ISBN-13: 978-1496708557
e-Book File Size: 1091 KB
ASIN: B01LYPJE1G
Amazon | B & N | BAM! | Kobo | iBooks | Overdrive | IndieBound | Goodreads

The Excerpt

A Crime of Passion Fruit by Ellie Alexander | Book Blast and Giveaway

The author of Fudge and Jury is back, with another Bakeshop Mystery!

Iced by Avery Daniels | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

The Blurb

Julienne has her ideal job, as an event planner at a prestigious resort. During a luncheon event she coordinated, a renowned celebrity pastor is killed next to the buffet. All eyes turn to her as the suspect. If she wants to stay out of jail or even keep her job, Julienne needs all the help she can get to solve the crime.

She has her work cut out for her — with a vengeful high school rival, now reporter; the public demanding she be fired; plus family who know what's best for her, and a boyfriend who doesn't understand her. She turns to friends and a new ally to uncover who wanted to put the pastor on ice.

Julienne goes undercover and investigates a local swingers group, as she follows the trail of clues before they go cold. Can she gather enough suspects and motives to convince the police to widen their investigation? Can she do it before the killer sets his murderous sights on her? Will her personal life ever be as simple as unveiling a murderer?

Iced by Avery Daniels
Series: A Resort to Murder Mystery, #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery 

Publication Date: May 31st 2017
Publisher: Blazing Sword Publishing, Ltd
Paperback: 284 pages
ISBN-10: 0999031805
ISBN-13: 978-0999031803
e-Book File Size: 1179 KB
ASIN: B071LFD6JV
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

The Excerpt

Drop Dead Handsome by M.K. Scott | Book Blast with Excerpt, Review, and Giveaway

The Blurb

The Painted Lady Inn is open for business and limping along in the B and B world. A high school reunion package assembles Donna’s least desirable classmates, including the backstabbing cheerleader, her narcissistic high school crush, and Arnie, whose cheesy poem had everyone calling her, hot mama. It’s all something she liked to forget. These are the normal guests. 

An octogenarian self-proclaimed sleuth, Father Christmas, a dognapping couple, and a pair who is copying everything in the Inn to set up their own competitive establishment rounds out the group. Maria, the sister-in-law, has a matchmaking agenda for Donna. Daniel, her brother, finds himself serving as a referee with one guest’s multiple wives. 

High school reunions can be murder. Detective Mark Taber is on the trail of the murderer, when he isn’t interfering in a smitten Arnie’s determined bid to woo the no nonsense innkeeper.

Drop Dead Handsome by M.K. Scott 
Series: A Painted Lady Inn Mystery, #2
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Culinary Mystery
Release Date: June 30, 2016
Publisher: Sleeping Dragon Press  
eBook File Size: 814 KB
Print Length: 178 pages
ASIN: B01EQML0RO  
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Smashwords | Goodreads 

Forthcoming on KOBO, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble

The Excerpt

A Stitch to Die For by Lois Winston | Blog Tour Book Blast with Giveaway

Lois Winston, the author of Decoupage Can Be Deadly, is back 

with another Anastasia Pollock Crafting Mystery!

The Blurb

The Violet Crow by Michael Sheldon | Book Blast with Excerpt, Review, and Giveaway

The Blurb

A brutal murder stuns the quiet South Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. No grieving parents come forward to claim the unknown girl’s body, and there aren’t any clues. The police are inexperienced. The local media are casting blame and demanding answers. A mini-culture war is brewing . . .

So what do the civic leaders do? They hire Bruno X, Psychic Detective.

No joke, the guy’s got talent. And a track record. Sure, you’re going to have to put up with some Yiddish trash talk and recycled borscht belt shtick. Sure, his psychic shtick is a bit unorthodox. Yet, somehow, he gets results — solving long-forgotten mysteries locked inside the old brick Quaker meeting house, and stopping the crime spree in the ordinarily placid Quaker community of Gardenfield, New Jersey.

Follow Bruno X in Michael Sheldon's fictional debut, THE VIOLET CROW as he fends off rabid journalists and feckless politicians; untangles webs of deceit in Professor Littlejohn’s Deviant Behavior 101 class; reveals why the Quakers are still fighting over decades-old military medical experiments; and finally, uncovers the secrets of the biotechnology firm whose symbol is The Violet Crow.

The Violet Crow by Michael Sheldon 
Series: A Bruno X Psychic Detective Mystery, #1
Genre: Mystery
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Publisher: Liberty Island  
eBook File Size: 614 KB
ASIN: B00XKJA9FY  
Amazon | Nook | Goodreads 

The Excerpt

Exposed by Rage by Sherrel Lee | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

The Blurb

He has a dead body.  She has the seedy connections. To solve the crime they are forced to work together.

To keep her mother’s reputation from destroying her, Ashley Dix Gibson had to learn at an early age to persevere and tune out the lies, gossip, and the bullies.  Detective Michael DeMarco has no desire to team up with a woman with ties to the underbelly of the porn industry but if he wants to solve his case, he has no other options. When Ashley and DeMarco combine their resources to find a brutal killer, sparks of distrust turn into the fires of passion.

Exposed by Rage by Sherrel Lee
Series: Deadly Exposure, #1
Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Goodreads

The Excerpt

The Rules in Rome by A.L. Sowards | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

The Blurb

With Hitler’s forces firmly entrenched in Europe, countless heroes seek to end the madman’s reign. Bastien Ley is one of the best. Working in Italy for the Office of Strategic Services, he’s been tasked with sabotaging German convoys. When his team kills an officer headed for Rome, the man’s similarity to Bastien is undeniable, and seeing an opportunity to turn the tide of the war, Bastien makes a bold decision: he will assume the dead officer’s identity. He becomes Dietrich, an Iron Cross–wearing German officer — an ideal position from which to infiltrate the Nazi ranks in Rome. To help with his stressful assignment, his superiors send him a reinforcement in the form of the lovely Gracie Begni, an intelligent and eager radio operator with absolutely no undercover experience.

With a gulf of resentment between them, these two agents must find a way to portray a couple in love. Soon their reluctant alliance becomes much more as Bastien and Gracie find themselves getting lost in their feelings for each other. But as they engage in battle against the deadliest foe the world has ever known, the pair quickly realizes their love may be doomed. As the Rome Gestapo threatens to destroy all they’ve worked for, will Bastien and Gracie survive their charade?

Praise for The Rules in Rome

Readers who hunger for a great espionage thriller with an extra helping of romance will devour The Rules in Rome. A.L. Sowards is at the top of her craft with this terrific WWII suspense novel. It is definitely a book not to be missed!

Gregg Luke, author of Bloodborne and Deadly Undertakings

The Rules in Rome has it all. Romance, adventure, and epic themes illustrating the unconquerable human spirit. From the moment Gracie met Bastien, I knew I would love this book. He’s the perfect hero, Gracie is his match. I fell in love with these characters over and over again. Thank you, Sowards, for another fabulous read!

Stephanie Fowers, author of the Twisted Tales Trilogy and Jane and Austen

The Rules in Rome by A.L. Sowards 

Genre: Romantic Suspense, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Publication Date: February 1, 2015
Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1621088820
ISBN-13: 978-1621088820
eBook File Size: 1441 KB
ASIN: B00SNW0ESA
Amazon | Nook | Deseret Book

The Excerpt

Nowhere to Run by Jeanne Bannon | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

Jane Reads is part of a virtual book blog blast, organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. We encourage you to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.  The author will award a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter following the tour.

Click on the tour banner (and scroll down) to see the other stops on the tour.

Click for tour stops

The Blurb

What’s a girl to do when she falls in love with the man whose mission it is to bring her down?

With the murder of her only sister, Sara, just a few months past, Lily Valier — a woman of beauty and substance — tops the sheriff’s list of suspects in small town Maine, and for a very good reason. Dear old Dad had willed his fortune to Sara and only Sara, leaving Lily to fend for herself. However, with no murder weapon or witnesses, the evidence against Lily is only circumstantial.

Enter P.I. Aiden O’Rourke, black-haired and blue-eyed, charged with gaining Lily’s trust and learning her secrets, all to finally get the goods on her. Things move fast and feelings run deep, yet when Lily discovers the truth about Aiden, everything begins to come apart.

Aiden’s torn. Despite his feelings for her, Lily is the most logical suspect, with a great big fat motive. Except something’s not quite right. Aiden trusts his instincts and they’re screaming at him to have a look at a former suspect with far more to hide than first appeared. With little left to lose, Lily decides to stand her ground, and staying put has its consequences when the murder weapon finally turns up — and it’s Lily’s gun.

What happens to love, when trust is betrayed?

Nowhere to Run, by Jeanne Bannon
Amazon | All Romance | Goodreads

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publication Date: October 3, 2014
ASIN: B00NU9GF2K

 File Size: 405 KB
ISBN-13: 978-1941692233

Word Count: 60,381

The Excerpt

Favors and Lies by Mark Gilleo | Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

The Blurb

Dan Lord is a forty-year-old private detective with a law degree working the blurred line between right and wrong in the Nation’s Capital. As a self-employed solutions broker and legal consultant, he works for a very select clientele. He doesn’t advertise and only takes cases on referral. But when two people close to him are murdered, Dan’s work becomes very personal.

With the assistance of a newly hired female intern, extracting clues from a ladder of acquaintances, Dan bounds through both the underbelly and elite of society, each step bringing more questions and yet ultimately taking him closer to the answer he seeks. A bail bondsman, a recluse hacker, a court clerk, a university student, an old-school barber, a high-class madam, an intelligence officer, a medical doctor, and a police detective are among the list of people Dan must cajole for help. His quest will lead him to discover things he never wanted to know, and put him in the position to reveal things that important people would prefer remain unrevealed.

Tense, ingenious, and filled with the unforgettable characters, Favors and Lies is Mark Gilleo’s most thrilling novel yet.

Praise for Favors and Lies

"Because of his intriguing plots, quirky characters and a mind that just keeps racing, Gilleo is becoming one of the favorite new American mystery writers."
~ Readers' Favorite

"I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and I hope this isn't Dan Lord's only adventure..."   
~ San Francisco Book Review

Favors and Lies by Mark Gilleo

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | IndieBound

Genre:  Detective Mystery, Suspense/Thriller

Date Published:  July 1, 2014

  

The Excerpt

Haunted by Maris Soule | Halloween Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

 The Blurb

It doesn’t matter to Valerie Wiggins that most people believe Jason McLain killed his wife. She needs the three-time Oscar winner’s expertise in special effects if they are going to turn their local charity’s annual haunted house into a money maker. Besides, every since she first saw his picture in the tabloids, she’s been attracted to him: his piercing dark brown eyes, unruly brown hair, and unsmiling mouth. And even though he’s come to this small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains to hide, she won’t take no for an answer. Except once he says yes, he fears he’s pulled her into the darkness that continues to haunt him.




Praise for Haunted

5.0 out of 5 stars  Entertaining, January 3, 2013

By tricol – See all my reviews

This review is from: Haunted (Kindle Edition)
As always, another Maris Soule book and well worth the read. I just noticed that her “As the Crow Flies” is now available on Kindle. Definitely going to add that to my collection, too.  

Haunted, by Maris Soule

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Smashwords | Goodreads

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: November 27, 2012

Length: 185 Pages

The Excerpt

Pigeon River Blues by Wayne Zurl | Book Blast with Excerpt

 The Blurb

Winter in the Smokies can be a tranquil time of year — unless Sam Jenkins sticks his thumb into the sweet potato pie. 

The retired New York detective turned Tennessee police chief is minding his own business one quiet day in February when Mayor Ronnie Shields asks him to act as a bodyguard for a famous country and western star.

C.J. Profitt’s return to her hometown of Prospect receives lots of publicity . . . and threats from a rightwing group calling themselves The Coalition for American Family Values.

The beautiful, publicity seeking Ms. Proffit never fails to capitalize on her abrasive personality by flaunting her lifestyle — a way of living the Coalition hates.

Reluctantly, Jenkins accepts the assignment of keeping C.J. safe while she performs at a charity benefit. But Sam’s job becomes more difficult when the object of his protection refuses to cooperate. 

During this misadventure, Sam hires a down-on-his-luck ex-New York detective and finds himself thrown back in time, meeting old Army acquaintances who factor into how he foils a complicated plot of attempted murder, the destruction of a Dollywood music hall, and other general insurrection on the “peaceful side of the Smokies.”

Pigeon River Blues by Wayne Zurl
Series: A Sam Jenkins Mystery
 Genre: Mystery, Police Procedural

Format: eBook / Paperback / PDF
Publisher: Iconic Publishing

Publication Date: May 31, 2014

ASIN: B00M7HHIDG

eBook, Kindle, $2.99
eBook File Size: 1377 KB

ISBN-10: 1938844025
ISBN-13: 978-1938844027

Pages: 258

 Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

The Excerpt

Rubber Soul, by Greg Kihn | BookBlast

 I am reading a really good book, y'all — Rubber Soul, by Greg Kihn.   Let me tell you a little about it.

Rubber Soul by Greg Kihn

Greg Kihn is a rock star, seasoned radio host and author. Rubber Soul, his latest novel is inspired by intimate interviews that he conducted with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Pete Best, Yoko Ono and Patti Harrison. Though Rubber Soul is fiction, as Greg says it is “100% historically accurate” and an candid glimpse of the phenomenon that is The Beatles.


Synopsis

Rubber Soul is a an innovation in the Rock Thriller genre, taking readers on a rollicking ride through The Beatles legacy from the early days in Liverpool to six sold out shows per night in Hamburg and full-fledged Beatlemania.

Dust Bin Bob runs into some lads from Liverpool at his second hand shop on Penny Lane. The lads: John, Paul, George and Ringo and Dust Bin Bob become firm friends, sharing vinyl that will spark a revolution. Murder, mystery and Beatlemania mayhem ensues—with the boys narrowly avoiding an international incident and an attempted assassination. It’s the ultimate Beatles story that could have happened!