mystery – Page 4 – Rosepoint Publishing

Color Me Dead by Teresa Trent #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Book Blurb:

Artist Gabby Wolfe has the ability to see not only the beauty of the living but the despair of the dead. When she returns to her childhood home in Henry Park Colorado, she is forced to bring along her younger brother Mitch. He is on a “break” from college where he was majoring in wine, women, and song. If that isn’t enough they also have Mitch’s rambunctious beagle Luigi along who prefers to spend his days wallowing in junk food. When Gabby draws the death of a young woman before it happens, she knows she must tell someone and risk a new job and her professional credibility. Will she reveal her secret in time to save the woman in the water or will it be too late?

My Review:

As an artist, Gabby Wolfe has an eye for detail most people miss. But Gabby takes that gift one step beyond—the ability to see the dead. It’s a gift she’d rather not have and not one she is quick to share. When she “receives” a picture, she succumbs to a trance-like state and lets the vision and her body sketch the picture of the revelation.

She has been experiencing one of these visions lately and now that she’s returned to her childhood home along with brother Mitch, the visions have progressed. Mitch is fleeing college where he’s majored in women and minored in beer kegs.

Fortunately, she’s been hired by a local author to illustrate his children’s book. About the same time, she meets a girl in a wheelchair who also has the same ability.

Balancing the ability to draw the woman in a lake, hand reaching for help, Gabby is tasked by her mother to keep Mitch out of trouble (Sheesh! He’s a dropout for a reason.) Reluctant to divulge her limited knowledge to law enforcement, she draws support from Gigi, wheelchair-bound, but forms a symbiotic relationship with Gabby in the search for the killer after the woman is found, now a victim. Mitch becomes a person of interest.

Yes, of course, it’s a cozy mystery, so you’ll be suspending some disbelief, but the novel enjoys a moderate pace after a slightly slow start. I enjoyed Gabby to an extent, but didn’t thoroughly invest in her character. Psychic flashes interest me, although drawing in a trance is pushing it. Gigi is talented in her own way.

Sense of humor manifests in the struggle Gabby has with her cigarettes—thinking she is hiding her secret smoking, hiding the package, changing clothes or eating a mint. Sorry, that won’t cover it up and surely a twenty-something would know that.

Twists and turns, little bits with the beagle are fun. The narrative adds smoke screens to make it more difficult to guess the perp—but I had my suspicions.

Been quite some time since I’ve read a book by this author, last one, Oh Holy Fright. This one is apparently the first in a new series that will appeal to those who love cozy mysteries along with a specific paranormal ability.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Psychic Mysteries, Psychic Romance, Mystery Romance
Publisher: Harbor Lane Books, LLC
ASIN: B0D779R7VV
Print Length: 237 pages
Publication Date: September 24, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: You can find Teresa online at https://teresatrent.com and https://teresatrent.blog. Teresa Trent writes the Swinging Sixties Mystery Series as well as the Piney Woods and the Pecan Bayou Mystery Series. Teresa writes mysteries, romance and short stories and in lives in South Texas.

Happy Autumn

The Heiress: A Novel by Rachel Hawkins #AudiobookReview #GothicHorrorFiction

Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

THERE’S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, his uncle’s death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.

And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will—and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

My Review:

I had no idea I was tackling a Gothic thriller, but I can tell you that this dysfunctional family makes you happy you aren’t rich. Good grief, with money comes treachery, woes, and misery. Or perhaps the McTavish family is unusual? I hope so.

Cam and Jules have been married for a while, solid and comfortable, childless but happy in Colorado far away from the family who adopted him and the mother who denied her birth children the home and fortune she left Cam. The siblings, who were never thrilled with him, are now left bitter and conniving after Ruby’s death.

Cam is called by his uncle to Ashby House to straighten out a financial mess. It’s Jules who convinces him he should return, reconcile with his adopted siblings.

Then it does read like a Gothic novel, describing a home of monumental proportions on a palatial estate, breathtakingly beautiful. It’s easy to veil the secrets, tension, and suspicion each family member heaps on each other. Narcissism screams with each character, whose personalities have been defined by money, power, and privilege.

The plot deepens with revelations from each of the characters, beautifully captured by multiple narrators. Adding to the tension are the little letter vignettes from Ruby, disclosing the stories of her four unfortunate husbands, all having met suspicious deaths.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller and the trove of unreliable narrators, ramping suspense. From a slightly slow start through the twists, one last zinger at the end, and the satisfying denouement, this novel may well be enjoyed by Gothic and psychological thriller fans and it doesn’t hurt that the area descriptions become so atmospheric.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Gothic Horror Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Psychological Thrillers
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0C3NX3ZK6
Listening Length: 8 hrs 20 mins
Narrator: Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, Patti Murin
Publication Date: January 9, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Heiress [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Rachel Hawkins (http://www.rachel-hawkins.com) was a high school English teacher before becoming a full-time writer. She lives with her family in Alabama, and is currently at work on the third book in the Hex Hall series. To the best of her knowledge, Rachel is not a witch, though some of her former students may disagree….

Happy (Audiobook) Thursday

Saving the Guilty by Liz Milliron #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

A Laurel Highlands Mystery Book 7

Book Blurb:

When defense attorney Sally Castle agrees to do a favor for an old friend she thinks the case will be simple: present the appeal for a murder conviction and the work is already done. But the more Sally looks into the facts of the case, the more problems she sees. Did sloppy police procedure result in the conviction of an innocent man?

State Trooper Jim Duncan is also working what seems like a straight-forward homicide: the execution-style murder of a man with suspected drug ties. But before the scene is released he learns the victim was living with a deep-cover fake identity. Why?

Jim and Sally pursue their separate investigations and lines begin to cross, leading them to wonder how separate the cases are. As they uncover murder, drugs, infidelity, and federal-level fraud, one thing becomes clear. Someone wants Sally’s client in jail. And they will go to any length, including murder, to keep him there.

My Review:

I enjoyed this character-driven plot where Sally Castle, an exceptional defense attorney and her boyfriend State Trooper Jim Duncan work together so beautifully, cooperatively, and supportively. She has a retired racer greyhound named Pixel. They work well as main characters while Sally’s law partner Tanelsa and Cavendish, Jim’s partner in the state police round out two strong support characters.

Sally agrees to take on a case for a friend in the hospital despite the bad timing which turns out to be a great deal more complex than viewed on first blush. When a second body is found that appears to be tied to the first, it’s Duncan and Cavendish who become involved in the case up to their eyeballs.

“I hope their definition of shortly isn’t the same as my doctor’s office.” (SOOO true!)

Matters become very convoluted very quickly as the author adds clues and twists that keep the reader turning pages. Dialogue is right on, authentic between intelligent and appealing characters. Easy to become invested between the good guys contrasting sharply against the bad guys. Ohhh, the tension.

An entertaining read from start to finish. The plot is well paced and complex but it was the characters I found most appealing. If you enjoy mystery, tension, legal fiction, and great characters, then this one will keep your interest. Recommended.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery Series, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B0D9ZRF8JM
Print Length: 345 pages
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Compassion, loyalty…and crime.

Liz Milliron is the author of the Laurel Highlands mystery series, featuring a Pennsylvania State Trooper and a Fayette County public defender in the scenic Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, and The Homefront Mysteries, set in Buffalo in the early 1940s and following Betty Ahern, a Rosie the Riveter with dreams of being Sam Spade. Liz’s short fiction includes stories in Lucky Charms: 12 Crime Tales and The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Fifth Course of Chaos, as well as stories in Mystery Most Historical, Fish Out of Water, and the Anthony-winning Blood on the Bayou. She is a past president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Sisters in Crime, as well as a member of International Thriller Writers and Pennwriters. Liz splits her time between Pittsburgh and the Laurel Highlands, where she lives with her husband and a very spoiled retired-racer greyhound.

http://www.lizmilliron.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LizMilliron/

https://www.instagram.com/lizmilliron/

#TuesdayBookBlog

You’ll Never Find Me by Allison Brennan #AudiobookReview #WomenSleuthMysteries

Angelhart Investigations Book 1

If you love getting in on a new series with Book 1, you may want to check this one out.

Book Blurb:

Nothing brings family together like crime. In the first book in the thrilling new Angelhart series from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan, private investigator Margot Angelhart helps clients the law overlooks, but when she takes on a case more dangerous than she imagined, teaming up with her estranged siblings may be her only hope for survival.

Working alone as a private investigator is tough. Estranged from her PI family, Margo Angelhart does what she must to get by—including taking on sordid cases that pay the bills, even if she’d rather be helping those the justice system has failed.

That is, until a cheating husband case she’s working intersects with her siblings’ corporate espionage investigation, forcing Margo to cooperate with the Angelhart firm. Now, as the siblings compare notes, it’s clear they need to work together before a white-collar crime escalates to murder.

With far more questions than answers and a key suspect on the run, they’ll need the whole family to pitch in. But as they investigate the ever-twisting mystery, Margo isn’t sharing everything. Can she learn to trust her family and heal their once-close relationship before her secrets put those she loves most in danger?

My Review:

The author introduces us to the Angelhart family in a new series. Not my first experience with the author but thought I’d try again with the first in a new series as I usually come in well after the characters are established with history.

Margo is a PI, estranged from the family. The dynamic with the family is strained and I had a hard time engaging with Margo’s character, discovering the separation from the family business was possibly explained in a prequel that I didn’t read it.

This narrative splits and creates a sub-plot. As the blurb describes, one of Margo’s cases and her siblings intersect. Margo is also trying to help a woman escape a dangerous situation with her husband. Add the dissension between Margo, her family, and why her dad is in prison and the storyline gets complex. She’s sure he didn’t commit the crime and can’t understand why her family won’t back her in working to clear his name.

There may be too many threads packed into the storyline—it becomes a bit convoluted—and working on separate plot points, found myself disassociating from the audio and not staying tuned.

The chapters bounce between different characters POV. Sometimes that works well for me. While it gives the reader more inside info into the thought processes of the characters, it became just too much in this case. The point seems to be setting them up for further inclusion in additional installments. I did enjoy the descriptions of the Phoenix area since we spent a year in Goodyear and got to understand the real beauty of the area.

Too many holes for me, bouncing POVs, switching plot threads, setting the stage for the next installment, and the conclusion left me with unanswered questions. I had somewhat the same experience with the writing style in The Wrong Victim last year. Again it seems, I want more potency in the main thread, more tension, faster pace, suspense.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Women Sleuth Mysteries, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
ASIN: B0CT479PLS
Listening Length: 10 hrs 31 mins
Narrator: Hillary Huber
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: You’ll Never Find Me [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Allison Brennan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award winning author of more than forty thrillers and numerous short stories. She was nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers, had multiple nominations and two Daphne du Maurier Awards, and is a five-time RITA finalist for Best Romantic Suspense. Allison believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year. Originally from northern California, in 2019 she and her husband relocated to Arizona where they enjoy baseball Spring Training, hiking, and spending time with their kids, grandson, and assorted pets.

Happy Thursday!

Echoes of Memory by Sara Driscoll #AudiobookReview #AmateurSleuth #standalone

Book Blurb:

Quinn Fleming, a San Diego florist grappling with post-traumatic amnesia, is the only witness to a murder … and the only one who can solve it—in a brand-new thrilling mystery from Sara Driscoll, author of the FBI K-9 novels!

After surviving a terrible attack, Quinn Fleming has recovered in every way but one—her ability to retain new memories. Now, months later, it appears to the outside world as if the San Diego florist’s life is back to normal. But Quinn is barely holding on, relying on a notebook she carries with her at all times, a record of her entire existence since the assault.

So when she witnesses a murder in the shadowy alley behind the florist shop, Quinn immediately writes down every terrifying detail of the incident before her amnesia wipes it away.

By the time the police arrive, there’s no body, no crime scene, and no clues. The killing seems as erased from reality as it is from Quinn’s mind … until the flashbacks begin.

Suddenly, fragments of memories are surfacing—mere glimpses of that horrible night, but enough to convince Quinn that somewhere, locked in her subconscious, is the key to solving the case … and she’s not the only one who knows. Somebody else has realized Quinn is a threat that needs to be eliminated. Now, with her life on the line and only her notes to guide her, Quinn sets out to find a killer she doesn’t remember, but can’t forget …

My Review:

Quinn Fleming has been left with a traumatic brain injury from an attack that she recovered from physically. She is now fully functional and working at a florist shop. She’s been left with the inability to retain short-term memories, however. Having reconciled to this new self, she has learned to live with it by immediately writing notes to herself and she keeps a journal.

One evening as she was closing the shop and tossing trash in the dumpster behind the store, she realized she was not alone in the alley. She witnesses what she believes to be a murder, victim of foul play, and also knew if she didn’t write her observations immediately, they’d be lost to her by the time she could give a complete statement to the police.

Unfortunately, when the police arrive, they do not find a body nor evidence of an attack. She apparently has history with Detective Reyes, however, and Detective Reyes learned how to keep Quinn’s involvement in the moment and tease out details. The question was: were the perps aware there was a witness?

I must confess I’ve read many of the author’s books and jumped on this just seeing her name. I didn’t realize it was a standalone and quickly understood it was not one of my favorite FBI K-9 series. I recently read Lockdown, Book 3 of the NYPD Negotiators series and enjoyed it, but still, it’s hard to beat one of her FBI K-9 novels.

The storyline seemed a slow burn for me. There was a lot of dialogue between Quinn and the detective, explanation of her brain injury, description of the elaborate system of notes she’d made and kept for herself so she could function somewhat normally.

While I enjoy the intelligence of her narratives, I guess I’ve gotten used to more activity, faster pace. The main character is well developed and I marveled at the patience the detective employed in gleaning out the tiniest memory from Quinn, but at times it was also a bit exasperating. Good book, yeah.

Interesting, yeah.

Unique, okay.

If you are a solid diehard fan of the author, then you may appreciate the burn. I am a fan, but obviously chose my favs early on and color me a bit disappointed if there are no dogs involved.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Amateur Sleuth, Women Sleuth Mysteries, Suspense
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0D2LRKGRS
Listening Length: 11 hrs 9 mins
Narrator: Cynthia Farrell
Publication Date: July 23, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Echoes of Memory – Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Sara Driscoll is the pen name of Jen J. Danna, coauthor of the Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries and author of the FBI K-9s and the NYPD Negotiators. After over thirty years in infectious diseases research, Jen hung up her lab coat to concentrate on her real love—writing “exceptional” thrillers (Publishers Weekly). She is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada and lives with her husband and four rescued cats outside of Toronto, Ontario. You can follow the latest news on her books, including the FBI K-9s, at http://www.saradriscollauthor.com.

Middletide: A Novel by Sarah Crouch #AudiobookReview #SmallTown&RuralFiction

Editors’ pick Best Books of the Year So Far 2024

In this gripping and intensely atmospheric debut, disquiet descends on a small town after the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor, with all clues pointing to the reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams but returned for the first love he left behind.

Book Blurb

One peaceful morning, in the small, Puget Sound town of Point Orchards, the lifeless body of Dr. Erin Landry is found hanging from a tree on the property of prodigal son and failed writer, Elijah Leith. Sheriff Jim Godbout’s initial investigation points to an obvious suicide, but upon closer inspection, there seem to be clues of foul play when he discovers that the circumstances of the beautiful doctor’s death were ripped straight from the pages of Elijah Leith’s own novel.

Out of money and motivation, thirty-three-year-old Elijah returns to his empty childhood home to lick the wounds of his futile writing career. Hungry for purpose, he throws himself into restoring the ramshackle cabin his father left behind and rekindling his relationship with Nakita, the extraordinary girl from the nearby reservation whom he betrayed but was never able to forget.

As the town of Point Orchards turns against him, Elijah must fight for his innocence against an unexpected foe who is close and cunning enough to flawlessly frame him for murder in this scintillating literary thriller that seeks to uncover a case of love, loss, and revenge.

My Review:

Of course, I’m drawn to a story situated in the Pacific Northwest, an area dear to my heart and this novel does provide a strong atmospheric backdrop that begins with the discovery of a body hanging from a tree on Elijah Leith’s property near Point Orchards, Washington.

Elijah has had to return to the old home he inherited from his father after a failed attempt at writing the “great American novel” which did okay until a bad review had him guessing his time and talent.

Elijah was promised to a former high school sweetheart, Nakita, from a local indigenous tribe (fictional tribe name) and failed to return at their appointed time and place. She moved on but has recently lost her husband and is still in mourning. In the meantime, he has been playing around with a local female doctor who is the body found on his land.

Of course, too obvious to be logical, he is immediately suspected of her death as it would appear the death if eerily similar to the plot of his failed book. I suppose it could be arranged to look so obvious that it would be dismissed. Is it this time?

There are courtroom scenes and I’m usually a fan of active courtroom dialogue and descriptively set scenes. There are multiple timelines, switching the reader from present to past, and I still had a problem investing in Elijah and wished there had been more background on Nakita.

I thought the doctor, who was mourning the death of her daughter, felt disingenuous and couldn’t imagine her actions following the death of her child.

A slow burn of a start for me, although it does begin to increase tension with questions of suicide, rather than murder. How in the world could that have been pulled off?

Several holes of credibility here; somewhat disappointed in the characters. Still not sure I can buy the motive, but really, if not Elijah who else could it have been?

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Small Town & Rural Fiction, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B0CLHJ3H1D
Listening Length: 9 hrs 36 mins
Narrator: Kaleo Griffith
Publication Date: June 11, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Middletide [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Sarah Crouch is known for her accolades in the world of athletics as a professional marathon runner. Middletide is her debut novel, and is set in the Pacific Northwest where she was raised.

Audiobooks

The Comfort of Ghosts: Maisie Dobbs Book 18 by Jacqueline Winspear #AudiobookReview #HistoricalMysteries

in Historical Mysteries

Book Blurb:

A MILESTONE IN HISTORICAL MYSTERY FICTION AS MAISIE DOBBS TAKES HER FINAL BOW

London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.

aisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.

The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, audiences drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.

My Review:

The eighteenth in the series and I didn’t realize when I got it, intended to be the last. As I read it, however, it seemed an obvious goodbye; farewell.

This is one of those series where the protagonist actually ages with the years, beginning in 2003 as a teen in the early twentieth century and ending in 2024 having lived through two world wars. This book ends with the end of WWII in 1945, post-war UK.

The author does a beautiful job of molding a young woman through her service as a young maid to becoming a nurse during the war and extending her expertise to becoming a private investigator, psychologist. She has endured love and lost it, experienced the death of both husband and child but she never turned inward, instead becoming a compassionate support for post-war individuals and their stories.

This story is about the discovery of children who, like many post-war individuals, discovered empty or abandoned homes in which to squat. The children eventually tell a harrowing story of the service to their country they were to execute should there have been an invasion of the English shores. It’s a shocking story now becoming familiar. A sad testament to the use of one last desperate commodity.

Maisie also begins to uncover secrets tied to her own past when yet another revelation is made that has her digging into the death of her first husband. The dual plot line leads to doors that will open to a peaceful future and quell heartaches she’s failed to conquer. A lovely conclusion pulling together threads not closed prior to Book 18.

Back in February 2022, I read To Die But Once and greatly enjoyed it, vowed to read more in the series. It’s a great historical novel with the mystery well drawn and satisfying then in the conclusion. I can recommend to any who enjoys a detective story authentically mixed with WWII wartime drama.

This installment signals the end of an era, sad to say of a lovely series that draws you in and invests in the characters so you might very well wish to begin with Book 1. The narrator does an emotional job of it, conveying her own goodbye.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest opinions.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Mysteries, Women Sleuth Mysteries
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0CQZ3TJG1
Listening Length: 10 hrs 6 mins
Narrator: Orlagh Cassidy
Publication Date: June 4, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Comfort of Ghosts [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author:

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of eighteen novels in the award-winning, New York Times, National and International bestselling series featuring psychologist-investigator Maisie Dobbs. In addition, Jacqueline’s 2023 non-series novel, The White Lady was a New York Times and National bestseller, and her 2014 WW1 novel, The Care and Management of Lies, was again a New York Times and National bestseller, as well as a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist. Jacqueline has also published two non-fiction books, What Would Maisie Do? and an Edgar-nominated memoir, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing. Jacqueline’s work encompasses essays and journalism covering a wide range of subjects, from women working in wildfire management to articles on international education and social history. [Amazon]

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education and in marketing communications in the UK.

She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.

A regular contributor to journals covering international education, Jacqueline has published articles in women’s magazines and has also recorded her essays for KQED radio in San Francisco. She currently divides her time between Ojai and the San Francisco Bay Area and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Jacqueline is the author of the New York Times bestsellers A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, Among the Mad, and An Incomplete Revenge, and other nationally bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for best novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. [Goodreads]

The Narrator: Orlagh Cassidy is an American actress, both parents from Dublin, Ireland. She works in Theatre, Television and Film and has recorded numerous award winning audiobooks and commercials. She can be seen in ‘St. Vincent’ with Bill Murray as well many guest starring roles on ‘Homeland’, ‘Billions’, ‘Good Wife’, ‘Elementary’ and ‘The Mysteries Of Laura’. She has worked in New York theatre at MTC, The Public Theatre, MCC, Origin Theatre Company and The Irish Rep where she received a Drama Desk nomination for the role of ‘Mamie’ in the ‘The Field’ in 2007. She is a recipient of The Princess Grace Foundation Award and has a BFA from SUNY Purchase.

City Gone Askew by Matt Cost #BookReview #InternationalMystery&Crime

A Brooklyn 8 Ballo Mystery Book 2

Blurb:

Award-winning author Matt Cost brings us back to Brooklyn in the Roaring ’20s and Hungarian private eye, 8 Ballo, who is hired by Theda Lazar Vogel to prove that her husband was murdered. His colorful cast of friends returns, as well as legendary figures such as Dorothy Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Bugsy Siegel, and Lucky Luciano.

8 discovers that a priceless Aquila—an ancient eagle Roman standard carried into battle 2,000 years ago—was stolen from Karl Vogel when he was killed. This provides ties to a secret German organization known as the Batavi. But Vogel was also involved in the eugenics movement centered in Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island, as well as being involved with the Ku Klux Klan.

As 8 peels back layers of the underbelly of 1920s Brooklyn, the more complicated and dangerous it becomes for him and those who are important to him. What is happening at Cold Spring Harbor with Herman Wall and the eugenics movement? Who are the mysterious Germans threatening 8? And what is the identity of the charismatic Grand Cyclops? 8 must race against time to uncover the truth and put a stop to the most chilling triumvirate ever conceived.

His Review:

The Aquila carried into battle by the Romans is a gold and silver eagle about 1 foot tall. A barbaric Germanic tribe led by a former Roman officer took it when they defeated the Romans. Theda Vogel’s husband Karl got it during the occupation of Germany after the Second World War. Theda knows it is priceless and wants it back. 8 Ballo also needs to identify her husband’s killers.

Youn City Gone Askew by Matt Cost g ladies are apparently becoming part of a eugenics movement that became common in many large cities in the United States during this time. 8 Ballo is enraged by this thoughtless crime.

Matt Cost has explored these problems with rare insight. 8 works to help the well-healed maintain a distance from crime and corruption. At the same time, he also has some major allies in Bugsy Siegel and other major crime heads. The country is being controlled by White Supremacists and crooked public officials.

This book is very enlightening and will expand public understanding of those turbulent times. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

I read Book 1 of this series back in April last year and greatly enjoyed. The series tackles a tough historical period for the country as well as the world. Many thanks to the author for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Historical Mysteries, Private Investigator Mysteries
Publisher: Encircle Publications
ISBN-10: ‎ 1645995445
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1645995449
ASIN: B0D3SXMD59
Print Length: 304 pages pages
Publication Date: July 31, 2024
Source: Author

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Over the years, [Matthew Langdon] Cost has owned a video store, a mystery bookstore, and a gym. He has also taught history and coached just about every sport imaginable.

During those years, since age eight actually, the true passion has been writing. I Am Cuba: Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution (Encircle Publications, March, 2020) was his first traditionally published novel.

Mainely Power is the first of the Mainely Mystery trilogy featuring private detective Goff Langdon. This will be followed by Mainely Fear (coming in December, 2020), and Mainely Money (to be released in May, 2021).

Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. A chocolate Lab and a basset hound round out the mix. He now spends his days at the computer, writing.

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