#NewBooks – Page 21 – Rosepoint Publishing

Safe Harbour: The Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series Book 10 by Mike Martin – #BookReview – International Mystery & Crime

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Welcome back to Sgt. Windflower Mysteries, where there’s always something good cooking and another seat at the table. Sgt. Windflower is on a special assignment in St. John’s and adjusting to life in the big city. He is navigating traffic, a difficult boss at work and what seems like an epidemic of missing girls. He becomes more interested when he discovers that one of the girls is from Grand Bank. Then a girl approaches his RCMP van one night and he is pulled into the underlife of the capital city.

Safe Harbour is a twirling, swirling mystery in the foggy streets of one of the oldest cities in North America. There are outlaw biker gangs and overwhelmed local police officers, who need the sharp eye and keen mind of Sgt. Windflower to help them cut through the haze and find the answers to the riddle of the missing teenagers hiding in plain sight of the authorities. A story of a man and his family growing up together with plenty of good food, old and new friends. Share the joy and heartbreak of living so close to the Atlantic Ocean.

His Review:

An inspiring story of family love and tragedy in the port city of St. Johns. Windflower is a native descendent who practices the old ways and customs of his indigenous ancestors. He is also a vaunted inspector for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This author has developed a nurturing and loving family man. He is also one of the finest detectives in the crown’s investigative division.

He cooks, cleans, walks the family dog and is very supportive of his wife and two rambunctious daughters. Meanwhile there are missing girls from St. Johns and the suspicion is that they have been abducted into the sex trade circuit. Once involved, the girls are controlled by a branch of the Hells’ Angels. When the number of girls missing exceeds five, Windflower is tasked with finding them.

Apparently, the Hell’s Angels control the prostitution and drug trafficking in a large part of Canada. The missing young girls are the catalyst that sets Windflower on the case to find and eliminate this scourge on Canada’s young women. The case is full of false leads, wrong turns and frustration. Windflower is perfect for the job because of his belief that his ancestors will help him in the endeavor.

I particularly appreciated the spirituality of Windflowers’ character and his belief in the spirit world to help him solve the case. Other law enforcement divisions have learned to appreciate and rely upon his enlightened approach to solving cases. This case is particularly evil and destroys many lives.

This author heightened my awareness of both the problem of youth enslavement in the prostitution and drug trade business. The culprit can be a leading citizen of your town rather than some motorcycle gangbanger taking advantage of naïve youth.

The solution to the problem and steps Windflower took to solve the case were somewhat surprising and very satisfying. I highly recommend this book to those who wish to understand teen prostitution and drug use and the reason they exist. 5 stars – CE Williams

We received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are his honest opinions.

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Cozy Mysteries
Publisher: Ottawa Press and Publishing
ASIN: B095VX6DQS
Print Length: 264 pages
Publication Date: June 1, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Safe Harbour [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble

The Author: Mike Martin was born in Newfoundland on the East Coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand. He is the author of Change the Things You Can: Dealing with Difficult People and has written a number of short stories that have published in various publications including Canadian Stories and Downhome magazine.

The Walker on the Cape was his first full fiction book and the premiere of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series. Other books in the series include The Body on the T, Beneath the Surface, A Twist of Fortune and A Long Ways from Home.

A Long Ways from Home was shortlisted for the 2017 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award as the best light mystery of the year. A Tangled Web is the newest book in the series.

©CE Williams – V Williams

Flea Market Felony: A Cozy Mystery Novel (The Mattie and Mo Mysteries Book 1) by Tricia L. Sanders #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

Welcome to my blog stop for a review of Flea Market Felony by Tricia L Sanders on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details

Flea Market Felony (The Mattie and Mo Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Independently published (April 1, 2021)
Paperback: 190 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8729049523
Digital ASIN: B08ZMBTQ8B

Book Blurb

These new retirees have just hit the road. Will their first campsite’s shenanigans land them both in handcuffs?

Mattie Modesky’s been hankering to start retirement right. Even if it’s in an RV. The sassy senior believes there’s no time like the present after her policeman husband hangs up his badge and they hit the road.

When they reach their first RV park, the yoga instructor hitting on Mattie’s man turns her peaceful vacation sour. In an effort to stand her ground and confront the sneaky resident, Mattie finds a new friend, a stiff corpse, and her husband as the prime suspect.

She is shocked to her core when her man’s newly purchased pocketknife is the murder weapon. But when the real killer makes the fatal mistake of dognapping her beloved pooch, the silver-haired sleuth sets her sights on solving the crime herself and proving her lawman’s innocence.

Can Mattie clear her hubby’s name and reclaim their pup before the villain turns their golden years into iron bars? Or will the killer roll away in a motor home with Mattie’s dog in the passenger seat?

Flea Market Felony is the adventure-packed first book in The Mattie and Mo Mysteries series. If you like irresistible characters, fun surprises, and captivating whodunits, then you’ll love Tricia L. Sanders’s clever read.

Buy Flea Market Felony to catch a dastardly devil today!

My Review

Love it when I get to read a novel of (close) contemporaries and most especially a story about RV’ers as I still get pangs that our Rvving experience couldn’t have been longer. I miss it. It was fun and always held a discovery around the corner.

Much like the discovery Mattie and Mo made when pulling to the entry of the Oldies but Goodies RV Park and Flea Market. Mattie hadn’t started out with the same enthusiasm as I though and given that she and Mo had a 40’ Class A, I can only imagine how much nicer that might have been. The park, however, had seen better days; ah, yes, so many of those. Mo is a retired police chief from Pine Grove, Missouri and they also have their rescue dog, Max, with them.

Mo, usually a bit more reticent than Mattie about meeting new people meets Stan right away (next unit over) who has a boat and is an avid fisherman. Perfect! Mattie also hits it off with Sandi (his wife). The new couple meets several residents, both permanent and temporary (Mattie and Mo constitute temporary) and discover there are some residents with whom they’d rather not get to know.

There is also a contiguous flea market (we called them “craft fairs”) and Mattie, a shopper, was interested in shopping the booths and quickly finds several gifts, one of which she gives her hubby.

When her “gift” is found at the scene of a crime, Mo becomes a person of interest. Mattie can’t have that.

There are few characters other than Mattie and Mo, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to narrow down the suspects. The couple dutifully attend fish fries and get to know their park grounds a bit better, along with the local small town cafe that offers up a down home perfected biscuits and gravy special.

I can see potential here in the further fleshing of Mattie and Mo and their long term marital dynamic and the chance to travel to different states (next stop—Wisconsin). New experiences are wide open as they put on the miles and get to know their new house on wheels. (For first timers in a 40’ RV (diesel pusher with slides?), they seemed to have remarkably few issues.)

I fell in love with that book cover and the blurb and received a gifted copy of this book from the author. These are my unbiased opinions.

Giveaway

Sign up for your chance to win two (2) Prize packs (Print Books) containing Book 1 Murder is a Dirty Business AND Book 2 Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn. (U.S. ONLY).

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About the Author

Tricia L. Sanders lives in the Austin, Texas area and writes about women with class, sass, and a touch of kickass. A former instructional designer and corporate trainer, she traded in curriculum writing for novel writing, because she hates bullet points and loves to make stuff up. And fiction is more fun than training guides and lesson plans.

When she isn’t writing, Tricia is busy crossing dreams off her bucket list. With all 50 states checked, she’s concentrating on foreign interests. She’s an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, so don’t get between her and the television when a game is on. Currently, she is working on a mystery series set in the fictional town of Wickford, Missouri. Another project in the works is a women’s fiction road trip adventure.

Her essays have appeared in Sasee, ByLine, The Cuivre River Anthology, and Great American Outhouse Stories; The Whole Truth and Nothing Butt. She is a proud member of The Lit Ladies, six women writing their truths into fiction.

Website: www.triciasanders.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authortricialsanders/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tricia-l-sanders

Cozy Clique Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/599311313773440/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tricialsanders

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/tricialsanders/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXRJSRSmTjg

Newsletter Sign Up: https://mailchi.mp/23a87d715dc3/tricia-l-sanders-sleuthscoop

Purchase Links – Amazon – Books2Read

Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!

Tour Participants:

June 1 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 1 – Christa Reads and Writes – SPOTLIGHT

June 2 – Novels Alive – GUEST POST

June 2 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

June 3 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST,

June 3 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 4 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE

June 5 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

June 5 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 6 – I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 7 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 8 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW

June 8 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT

June 9 – Ascroft, eh? – GUEST POST

June 9 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 10 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

June 10 – Baroness’ Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT

June 11 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 12 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

June 12 – Reading Is My SuperPower – GUEST POST

June 13 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 14 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!

2021 V Williams

Aftermath by Terri Blackstock – #BookReview – Christian Mystery & Suspense Romance

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

A devastating explosion.

Three best friends attend a concert. Only one makes it out alive.

A trunk full of evidence.

When police stop Dustin Webb with a warrant to search his trunk, he knows there’s been a mistake. He’s former military and owns a security firm. But he’s horrified when the officers find explosives, and he can’t fathom how they got there.

An attorney who will risk it all for an old friend.

Criminal attorney Jamie Powell was Dustin’s best friend growing up. They haven’t spoken since he left for basic training, but she’s the first person he thinks of when he’s arrested. Jamie knows she’s putting her career on the line by defending an accused terrorist, but she’d never abandon him. Someone is framing Dustin to take the fall for shocking acts of violence . . . but why?

His Review:

Three young aspiring politicians attend a political rally and as the candidate comes onto the stage, the Trudeau Hall auditorium explodes. Taylor Reid scrambles to exit bloody and bruised but alive. Outside she looks for her friends. They do not show up so she tries to call them. There is no answer.

Ms. Blackstone writes a very compelling tale of the aftermath of a bombing. Guilt envelops Taylor as she wonders why she did not try to help her friends. Fight or flight had overtaken her. She was one of the few survivors. Guilt follows for not trying to rescue her friends.

Dustin Webb is driving along the highway when he is suddenly pulled over. Why? The police ask to check his car including the trunk. He inquires if they have a warrant and why they want to search his trunk. Being confused and knowing there is nothing in the trunk he allows them to search. He is arrested after 4 boxes of highly explosive RDX is found in his trunk. How could that be? They explain they had an anonymous tip which motivated them to pull him over.

His best friend, Travis Grey, is at a hospital where his wife, Crystal, is dying from inoperable cancer. Together he and Dustin started a building security firm called Grey Webb Security. He is unaware that his business partner has been arrested and charged with the crime of domestic terrorism for planting the bomb.

The intricacy of the plot and the interweaving of the lives of the characters kept me glued to the pages. The conclusion is surprising and convoluted as Taylor decides to take matters into her own hands because of the death of her friends.

An old flame of Dustin, Jamie Powell, Attorney at Law, decides to help him. She simply cannot believe he would ever commit such a terrible crime. The twists and turns kept me guessing. 5 stars – CE Williams

Book Details:

Genre: Christian Mystery & Suspense Romance, Christian Suspense
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ASIN: B08BZ14BV7
Print Length: 332 pages
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Links: Aftermath [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

The Author: Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over seven million copies sold worldwide. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in an Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual “new kid,” her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.

In 1994 Terri was writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening drew her into the Christian market. As she was praying about her transition, she went on a cruise and noticed that almost everyone on the boat (including her) had a John Grisham novel. It occurred to her that some of Grisham’s readers were Christians, and that if she wrote a fast-paced thriller with an added faith element, she might just find her niche. As God would have it, Christian publishers were showing interest in the suspense genre, so she quickly sold a four-book series to Zondervan. Since that time, she’s written over thirty Christian titles, most of them suspense novels.

Terri has appeared on national television programs such as “The 700 Club” and “Home Life,” and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins.

The Forever Home by Sue Watson – #BookReview – #psychologicalfiction

Happy Release Day!

Book Blurb:

Carly had thought they’d always live there. The beautiful Cornish cliffside house they’d taken on as a wreck, that Mark had obsessively re-designed and renovated – a project that had made him famous. It was where they’d raised their children, where they’d sat cosily on the sofa watching storms raging over the sea below. It was where they’d promised to keep each other’s secrets…

Until now. Because Mark has fallen in love. With someone he definitely shouldn’t have. Someone who isn’t Carly. And suddenly their family home doesn’t feel like so much of a safe haven.

Carly thinks forever should mean forever though: it’s her home and she’ll stay there. Even the dark family secrets it contains feel like they belong to her. But someone disagrees. And, as threats start to arrive at her front door, it becomes clear, someone will stop at nothing. Because someone wants to demolish every last thing that makes Carly feel safe. Forever.

My Review:

Mark chose the eve of their 25^th wedding anniversary to announce he was seeing someone else—not that he had a choice. It was tell Carly or her best friend would. Okay, not a huge surprise, he’d been a womanizing the entire length of their marriage. A sham, really, because the brand they’d created together by redesigning and renovating houses would not allow for other than being a perfect family. Beautiful home, two gorgeous children, and finally enough money to live comfortably.

A lie.

Carly Anderson had tolerated…everything. They had secrets. Behind those closed doors, there were things not to be shared with the public. And Mark was crazy occupied with his public persona. This, too, would be spun. The public would get a version. Maybe not the truth, but a version.

A slow burn.

I had a problem getting into the family drama. The divorce back and forth turning ugly. Carly would keep the house. Her house. She’d inherited the one of a kind Cornish cliffside home from her mother, but his new girlfriend wanted it—had wanted it all her life. Carly had been the power behind the face that Mark put on for his adoring public. Now it was quietly being undermined. Would she lose the house to Mark and his pregnant girlfriend?

“…an interview in the Daily Mail with Gemma Hough, the lead groupie and yummy mummy who virtually accosted me at the hair salon.”

Lots of tell not show; stories from Carly regarding the characters surrounding she and the family, the building of the brand, the celebrity. Slow, with repetition of salient plot points. Mark is beyond narcissistic but I eventually got tired of Carly as well. Okay, okay. She’d worked just as hard. It was her house. She’d put up with him all those years. He held her secret, although threatening her with revealing it was getting old, and the secret easy to guess. She didn’t love him; hadn’t for a long time.

I’d have been happy with much of the repetition deleted, the chapters instead making progress toward the end reveal (which, btw, was also guessed well ahead of the conclusion), and Carly showing a little more of the gumption that it took to get both of them to the status. I needed more empathy in at least one of the characters and didn’t feel it for Carly.

The author has a large fan base and dedicated followers. While this may not have been my cup of tea, no doubt her fans will appreciate her new release. FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. These are my unbiased opinions.

Rosepoint Rating: Three stars

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Fiction, Psychological Thrillers
Publisher: Bookouture

ASIN : B08YDCN27S

Print Length: 391 pages
Publication Date: June 4, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Sue Watson was a TV Producer at the BBC until she wrote her first book and was hooked.

Now a USA Today bestselling author, Sue has written eighteen novels, many have been translated into several languages. Sue is now exploring the darker side of life with her thrillers OUR LITTLE LIES, THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR, THE EMPTY NEST, THE SISTER-IN-LAW, FIRST DATE and her latest, THE FOREVER HOME.

Originally from Manchester, Sue now lives with her family in Worcestershire where much of her day is spent writing – okay, procrastinating. Her hobby is eating cake, while watching diet and exercise programmes from the sofa, a skill she’s perfected after many years of practice.

more info visit Sue’s website; http://www.suewatsonbooks.com/

Sue would love to meet you on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/suewatsonbooks

Follow Sue on Twitter @suewatsonwriter

Money Bear: A Nick Tanner Crime Thriller by Kerry K cox – #BookReview – #crimethriller

Rosepoint Rating: Five stars

“…the lowest branch on a big redwood is higher than the tallest branch of almost any other tree, in any other forest, on the planet?”

Book Blurb:

When Redwoods Park Enforcement Ranger Kathleen Shepherd finds a third dead bear in the forest, its paws and gallbladder harvested, she contacts U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services for assistance. They send Nick Tanner, one of an elite cadre of undercover USFWS Special Agents.

Highly valued in Traditional Chinese Medicine, bear gallbladders fetch the type of money that attracts dangerous and desperate criminals. When the killing of bears escalates to a series of equally macabre human murders, Nick and Kathleen follow the clues that lead them into a lethal trap—all under the darkly surreal canopy of the world’s oldest known living organisms, the old-growth redwoods.

My Review:

Orick Enforcement Ranger Kathleen Shepherd gets in over her head when she finds the third bear killed for its gallbladder and paws. It’s obvious they have poachers harvesting bears for their valuable gallbladders used in TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine. Unfortunately, the killing has extended into human murders and Shepherd contacts the US Fish and Wildlife Service. They send Nick Tanner, a USFWS Special Agent.

Love the location of Northern California, the redwoods, the coast, such a gorgeous, uniquely wild area. The atmosphere is palpable; the well developed characters (both sides of the law) are engaging.

Gripping out of the gate, the author introduces information woven through the well-plotted narrative that is both fascinating and startling leading to the underbelly of Chinese medicine in Hollywood. The primary characters are super and I loved Tanner’s “kitty,” a blind bobcat he named Ray Charles. The prose is crafty, strongly masculine appropriate to the wild area of California, mules, wild animals. There is action, humor that lightens just a bit of the gravity, suspense, and an immersive storyline right to the conclusion. A great start to a new series and I’m looking forward to Book 2!

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B08WBXGHKT
Print Length: 323 pages
Publication Date: February 23, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: [Kerry K Cox] When I was a kid, I didn’t want to be a policeman, or fireman, or astronaut, or major league third baseman. I wanted to be a forest ranger.

Okay, also a major league third baseman. Y’know, as a summer job.

But it turned out my inability to comprehend biochem made a career in wildlife management as realistic as my chances of starting for the Dodgers.

So, after four years at Oregon State University I declared myself graduated, and returned home to Southern California. There I taught swimming, karate, and pre-school while I sold articles to various magazines, wrote children’s shows for The Disney Channel, and eventually became a full-time writer.

And because one of my childhood dreams lives on, I now write novels focused on the dark underworld of wildlife trafficking, and work with various wildlife, marine mammal, and feral cat/kitten groups as a rescue volunteer along California’s Central Coast.

I’m still waiting on that call from the Dodgers.

I live by the ocean in Cambria, California with my wife and a clowder of cats.

Key West Dead (Jake Wolfe Book 6) by Mark Nolan – #BookReview – #financialthriller – #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

When Jake Wolfe attends a wedding in Key West, a mysterious bomb-maker plots to kill the newlywed couple with an improvised explosive device hidden on board their sailboat. The criminal’s manifesto reveals that he plans to relentlessly target sailboats and motor yachts throughout the Florida Keys, while demanding $30 million dollars in ransom from the Monroe County government.

Jake volunteers to search marinas with his adopted IED-sniffing war dog, Cody. Together, they follow the twisted trail of an elusive killer whose merciless attacks have stunned the Florida Keys and put fear into the boating community, local residents, and visiting tourists.

Many innocent lives are at stake, along with the potential loss of several billion dollars in tourist income that would devastate the Florida Keys economy and cause mass unemployment and homelessness. With the islands under constant attack and every boater a suspect, the chase is on in a wild race against time, and the clock is ticking toward a final heart-stopping confrontation that will bring Jake face-to-face with death.

Will Jake and Cody be able to hunt down the criminal and stop his bombing spree before he detonates “the big one?” Read Key West Dead to find out what happens next.

His Review:

Jake Wolfe, Sarah and Cody are at a Key West resort to celebrate a good-friends’ wedding. It is a beautiful celebration and the couple are slipping away to start their honeymoon aboard the Mojo, a 36’ Peterson 328 sloop. The scene is very tranquil and the wedding party wish a bon voyage to the happy couple. Suddenly the boat erupts in a huge explosion and they sink into the sea.

The local psycho nick-named Orion has set off an I.E.D. and enjoys the fireworks. He is sure that Key West and the state of Florida will pay him $33 million dollars to stop the sabotage and destruction. He has no qualms about the lives he erases nor the people affected. Cody had tried to warn the couple but they would not allow him to search their boat prior to departure.

Jake and another Navy Seal set out to find the bomber and right the injustice. The bomber in turn has taken a vengeful hate for Cody and Jake and decide to target them as part of his campaign. Orion begins to target Jake and anyone who is a friend of he and Sarah. Thanks to Cody his plans are disrupted. The infrastructure of Key West is also a prime target to force the government to agree to his demands and stop the wonton slaughter.

Mark Nolan builds a great deal of tension in this narrative. Having read a number of his books I can see an emerging pattern to the books. There are many twists and turns which keeps the reader engaged. I can see a winning pattern to his writing and find myself vested in his characters.

CE Williams I suggest anyone who wishes to have a little escapism in their lives settle down with one of his books. The experience is very entertaining. 5 stars-C.E. Williams

[Note: This is Book 6 of the Jake Wolfe series and how many have we read? ALL OF THEM. The duo of Jake and Cody are engaging, intelligent, fast, cunning, and capable, but tender and hot at the same time! The CE read the last one too; Deadly Weapon, was posted October 2020. Can be read as standalone and all are recommended.

Book Details:

Genre: Financial Thrillers, Travel Adventure Fiction, Sea Stories
ASIN: B08FXVTH2T
Print Length: 358 pages
Publication Date: March 31, 2021
Source: Author request
Title Link: Key West Dead [Amazon]

The Author: Mark Nolan is the Amazon Bestselling Author of the Jake Wolfe Series. Subscribe to his reader newsletter at marknolan.com for updates, specials, and news.

Mark’s books in order: 1. Dead Lawyers Don’t Lie. 2. Vigilante Assassin. 3. Killer Lawyer. 4. San Diego Dead. 5. Deadly Weapon. 6. Key West Dead.

Click FOLLOW under Mark’s author photo, and Amazon will notify you when a new book is available.

Gone Too Far (Devlin & Falco Book 2) by Debra Web – #BookReview – #policeprocedural

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

This second entry in USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb’s Devlin & Falco series proves that sometimes the past is best left forgotten.

As veteran detectives of the Birmingham Police Department, Kerri Devlin and Luke Falco have seen it all. So when the city’s new hotshot deputy district attorney turns up dead as part of a double homicide, the partners immediately get to work.

But this is no ordinary case. Devlin and Falco quickly link the murdered DDA to one of their own: former BPD detective Sadie Cross. But Sadie’s fractured memory is yet another puzzle to decipher, as she only recalls bits and pieces of her violent past…a past that may hold clues to the motive behind the murders.

As the group slowly begins to unearth the truth, they soon discover that the more secrets are revealed, the more fatal the consequences.

His Review:

Evil people seem to be everywhere. When a young girl falls down a staircase in high school, the girls that were around her are suspected of murder. Brendal Meyers, a local bully, will not be missed by her classmates. But that does not matter because it appears there is a murderer in the school.

Kerri is a local homicide detective who is investigating the case of a respected local businessman and an Inspector with the major crimes’ investigative division. Kerri and her partner Falco are on the scene to investigate the crimes. Kerri is pulled from the case because her daughter was one of the girls at the top of the stairs when Brendal Meyers falls. She is torn because she wants to investigate but is forbidden to get involved. Her daughter is one of the suspected students who pushed the bully down the stairs. Can she clear her daughter?

Debra Webb’s characters point out some of the competition, prejudices, and jealousies that exist in most large organizations including the investigative division of the Birmingham police department. A third complication is the existence of a large criminal element in the city. The ADA and a local businessman are killed who seem to have connections to the drug criminal element.

There are twists and turns that kept me guessing as I read the story. How could the head of the division expect Kerri to stay away from her daughters’ problem? Could a local pillar of the community and a young ADA be involved in the importation of drugs?

There are secrets in any community. One of the girls at the head of the stairs seems to be connected to the international drug cartel, however, there is no proof. Do we really know who our neighbors are and how they earn a living?

I found the twists and turns in this novel a motivation to continue reading. The death of a young person and the saving of Kerri’s daughter and solving the crime kept me continually engaged. 5 stars-CE Williams

Book Details:

Genre: Murder, Women Sleuths, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
ISBN : 1542091772
ASIN: B089GSGGRL
Print Length: 381 pages
Publication Date: April 27, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Gone Too Far [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble

The Author: DEBRA WEBB is the USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of more than 160 novels, including reader favorites the Shades of Death, the Faces of Evil, and the Colby Agency. She is the recipient of the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense as well as numerous Reviewers Choice Awards. In 2012 Debra was honored as the first recipient of the esteemed L. A. Banks Warrior Woman Award for her courage, strength, and grace in the face of adversity. Recently Debra was awarded the distinguished Centennial Award for having achieved publication of her 100th novel. With this award Debra joined the ranks of a handful of authors like Nora Roberts and Carole Mortimer.

With more than four million books in print in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood when, at the age of nine, her mother bought her an old typewriter in a tag sale. Born in Alabama, Debra grew up on a farm. She spent every available hour exploring the world around her and creating her stories. She wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the Commanding General of the US Army in Berlin behind the Iron Curtain and a five-year stint in NASA’s Shuttle Program that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then she has expanded her work into some of the darkest places the human psyche dares to go. Visit Debra at www.debrawebb.com

Hell’s Half Acre (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 2) by Jackie Elliott – #BookReview – #noircrime – #tuesdaybookblog

Happy Release Day!

Book Blurb:

AN ADDICTIVE MUST-READ WHODUNNIT FROM THE NEWEST TALENT IN CRIME FICTION

One betrayal.
Two suspects.
Three murders.

Andrea “Andi” Silvers thought moving to the tiny fishing village of Coffin Cove, on the Vancouver coast, would be a fresh start. But she got shot during a murder investigation.

Her boss at the Coffin Cove Gazette keeps telling her to take it easy. But she’s back on the booze and won’t get help. Instead, she’s going to do what she does best and follow her next lead.

Now Ricky, the former mayor’s son, has disappeared. The police don’t seem to care. Ricky runs the town’s new cannabis shop.

Then two dead bodies are discovered in an abandoned chapel.

Has Ricky finally turned up?

Discover a web of murder and mystery laced with humour and a thread of romance in this fast-paced whodunnit set on the gorgeous coast of Western Canada.

My Review:

I love a good mystery with a particularly atmospheric setting, such as fictional Coffin Cove on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Oh, the memories it brought back! Fond memories of our ride into Canada one year to Glacier National Park of Canada where we caught Canadian Hwy 1 west through Revelstoke and Kamloops eventually to catch the ferry to Nanaimo. Gorgeous, gorgeous country. Well, anyway, Nanaimo is mentioned in this novel as being “an hour” away from the fictitious Coffin Cove. So, yes, I was quickly pulled into the narrative.

Protagonist Andrea “Andi” Silvers works as a journalist and assistant editor at the Coffin Cove Gazette. She is recovering from a gunshot wound received in the process of her last big story and is now looking into the cold case of the disappearance of the son of the former mayor. The old mayor was not particularly liked but definitely had in place a network of good old boys. Ricky’s body is found on private property in the process of finding interesting locations for a museum historical walk, one of the new mayor’s ideas for revitalization. Jade Thompson has promised a new day for the town.

In the plans to regenerate the town, they will repair, rebuild, and modernize, but Coffin Cove has a dark past that includes biker gangs, drugs, and murder. There are stories, unfortunate and sad, that haunt the village, unsolved, that continue to linger like a pall over the residents. Ricky’s body isn’t the first to be found but it does seem to have set off a spate of retributions.

Andi is dealing with her explicable attraction to RCMP Inspector Andrew Vega while she also has another interest, his more so than hers. I liked the characters of her editor, Jim Peters new recruit PC Matt Beaufort, and Clara Bell, the retired museum curator living off the grid. The storyline gets complex, expands on characters, and introduces clues and twists that continues to leave the reader in confusion, although there is a gradual dawning and suspicion.

I enjoyed the historical aspects of the location, the descriptions of the area, and the immersive characters and I can see this series doing well. The conclusion settles most of the dust, exposes the perp (correctly guessed), and suggests possible scenarios for the next installment although this as Book 2 can be read as a standalone.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Noir Crime, Serial Killers, Murder
Publisher: Joffe Books

ASIN : B093X49XFF

Print Length: 247 pages
Publication Date: Happy Publication Day- May 11, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link(s): Hell’s Half Acre [Amazon]

The Author: Jackie [Elliott] is originally from the UK, but she settled on Vancouver Island, Canada in 2004. She’s married to Bob, a commercial fisherman and accomplished storyteller – like most fishermen!

It was a culture shock to swap a fast-paced city life for Island living. It wasn’t at all how Jackie had expected. She was intrigued by the pioneer spirit of their small communities, and the fight to hang on to traditional ways of living. In her experience, small towns ‘with a heart’ have claws and teeth as well and that makes the perfect back drop for a good murder!

Jackie has written several non-fiction books about her sober journey and a cook book with her husband, featuring stories about from his fishing days.

When Jackie’s not writing, she is gardening, reading, or poking around local museums, looking for inspiration.