Old Haunts by E.J. Copperman

Alison Kerby is just another single mom trying to make a living. However, author E.J. Copperman not only forces her to live with ghosts as the owner of a haunted guesthouse at the Jersey Shore, in the latest book, Old Haunts, he forces her to cope with old memories. Her resident ghosts ask for favors, investigations into stories from their past. But, the worst old memory is the one who shows up unexpectedly on her doorstep, her ex-husband, Steven, not so affectionately known as “The Swine.”

Alison has her hands full. She’s working with a friend’s husband to convert the attic into a room for her daughter, Melissa. There are guests from Senior Plus Tours staying at the house in order to have a ghostly experience. Paul and Maxie were murdered in the house two years earlier, and they agreed to put on daily shows for the seniors. In return, they both want favors, and she’s supposed to use her new PI license to help them. Maxie just learned her ex-husband was murdered, and she wants Alison to find the killer. And, Paul wants her to search for an old girlfriend. Does she really need “The Swine” there at the same time? She knows he’s up to something as he tries to win over Melissa and tells Alison he wants to get back together. Even working on a murder investigation is better than dealing with Steven.

Alison feels as if she’s in over her head when Maxie’s case leads first to a biker bar, and then to problems for Maxie’s mother. But, Alison is tenacious, and she’ll keep plugging along. If her ghosts aren’t happy, no one in her guesthouse will be happy. Copperman’s Alison Kerby is my kind of protagonist. She’s realistic and knows her weaknesses. Alison certainly doesn’t think she’s qualified to be a private investigator. She works with the police, not against them, and doesn’t keep secrets from them.

Best of all, she has a dry sense of humor, required for a woman living with ghosts and a ten-year-old. And, that sense of humor even gets her through “Revisit your failed relationship week,” when she and the ghosts all have to deal with Old Haunts. Leave your disbelief behind. Pretend you believe in ghosts. You’ll certainly believe in Alison Kerby as a perfect amateur sleuth.

E.J. Copperman’s website is www.ejcopperman.com.

Old Haunts by E.J. Copperman. Berkley Prime Crime. ©2012. ISBN 9780425246207 (paperback), 290p.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.

Winners and Kristin Hannah's Home Front Giveaway

Congratulations to the winners of the last contest. Irene Fleming's The Brink of Fame is going to Shirley N. of Columbus, OH. Miss Dimple Disappears by Mignon F. Ballard was won by Pat S. from Farmington, NM. The books will go in the mail tomorrow.

This week, I'm not giving away mysteries. Instead, I'm giving away three copies of Kristin Hannah's new book, Home Front. I reviewed this intense story earlier this week, and I think it's Hannah's best book yet. It deals with an issue we seldom discuss, military families. We don't talk about the changes in the person who goes to war, or the issues faced by the families left at home. Hannah addresses the problems head-on. It's a powerful book, and I'm pleased that the publicist will be sending out copies to three winners.

In order to enter, you must email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com.Your subject heading should read, "Win Home Front." Please include your name and mailing address in the email. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

The contest will close on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. MT when the winners are selected by random number generator. Good luck! (It's a wonderful book.)

Hot Titles for March

Following up on the Treasures in My Closet post, I have some hot titles that are coming out in March. If you didn’t find and books that caught your imagination yesterday, I’m guessing you might find a book or two on this list.

I’ll kick off the discussion with a popular author. Rhys Bowen returns with the latest Molly Murphy mystery, Hush Now, Don’t You Cry. Molly promised her new husband, Daniel Sullivan, that she would give up sleuthing. But, even on their honeymoon, it’s hard to resist. When their host ends up dead at the base of his estate’s ocean front cliffs, it’s easy to forget that promise.

In C.J. Box’ Force of Nature, Nate turns to Joe Pickett for help. While he was working for the Special Forces unit abroad, Nate witnessed a colleague do something horrific. Now that colleague is eliminating those who know of his crime.

Jane K. Cleland brings back New Hampshire antiques dealer Josie Prescott in Dolled Up for Murder. Josie was excited to show her doll collection to Alice Michaels, the queen of the local investment community. But, only moments later, she saw Alice shot and killed. When one of Josie’s employees is kidnapped, the ransom demand is that doll collection, the key to Alice’s murder.

Stay Close is Harlan Coben’s latest thriller, a story of an unhappy couple. Megan revisits a cold case involving a missing family while her husband wants out of a dead-end job. It isn’t long before the past comes back to haunt them, with events spiraling out of control.

The latest Hannah Swensen mystery is Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke. Bakery owner Hannah Swensen plans a display for a festival when the Cinnamon Roll Six jazz band comes to town. When the bus overturns, two men die, but one of them is traveling under an assumed name.

Can a Texas Ranger accept the paranormal? In Heather Graham’s Unseen, a Texas Ranger is determined to stop a serial killer, so when he’s approached by a group of paranormal investigators who insist the recent killings may be connected to an event in the 1880s, he decides to work with them.

James Patterson teams up with David Ellis for Guilty Wives, the story of four women on a weekend getaway in Monte Carlo who are charged with murder and imprisoned. It’s clear they’re being framed, but by whom?

In Richard North Patterson’s Fall From Grace, a man searches fro his father’s killer after he learns he left behind a widow, a mistress and a string of secrets.

Once again, Randy Wayne White thrusts Doc Ford into danger in Chasing Midnight. When Ford attends a Russian black marketeer’s reception, he must call upon his special skills to deal with environmental extremists who say they will kill one hostage every hour until midnight if their demands aren’t met.

And, Jacqueline Winspear rounds out the list with the latest Maisie Dobbs novel, Elegy for Eddie. Everyone who knew Eddie Pettit was shocked by his violent death. The police wouldn’t investigate, so the only hope of getting the truth was to turn to Maisie Dobbs, whose investigation leads to unexpected places.

I’m sure I missed some books you’re anticipating. What are you waiting for in March?

March Treasures in My Closet

Are you ready for a sneak peek into my closet? It’s February 1, time to preview some of the March releases. I have a dozen March books that are already here. Which of these appeal to you?

Murder at the Lanterne Rouge is the latest Aimée Leduc mystery, the twelfth one by Cara Black. Aimée’s longtime business partner, René, is in love with Meizi Wu. Aimée just doesn’t trust her. And, her disappearance the same night a body is found with Meizi’s picture in his wallet plunges Leduc into the investigation. Cara Black will be appearing for Authors @ The Teague on March 12, joined by Rhys Bowen and Libby Hellmann.

Laura Childs’ latest Tea Shop mystery is Agony of the Leaves. Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning is in over her head when she discovers a body at the grand opening of Charleston’s new aquarium. The victim is Theodosia’s former boyfriend. The EMTs call it an accident, but Theodosia is determined to jump into the investigation and prove it was murder.

Forgotten Country is a debut novel for Catherine Chung. It’s a story that weaves Korean folklore into a modern story of immigration and identity. Janie is charged with keeping her younger sister safe because the family has lost a daughter in every generation since the Japanese occupation of Korea. Years later, when Hannah cuts all family ties and disappears, it’s up to Janie to find her sister, and uncover the family secrets.

The back cover says, “1845. New York City forms its first police force. The great potato famine hits Ireland. These two seemingly disparate events will change New York City. Forever.” The Gods of Gotham is a crime novel by Lyndsay Faye. When Timothy Wilde becomes a cop in the new NYPD, he assigned a beat at the edge of Five Points, the world’s most notorious slum. It’s there he hears a story of dozens of bodies buried, and finds himself engaged in a battle for justice that could cost him everything.

Matthew Glass envisions the near future in his thriller, Trigger Point. It’s 2018 when the U.S. intervenes in Uganda after 32 American aid workers are massacred there. In retaliation, China manipulates the American stock market, the two world superpowers find themselves at a standoff, and the world is on the verge of a financial meltdown.

In Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son, author Anne Lamott enters a new and unexpected chapter of her life. She’s a grandmother. She’s stunned to learn nineteen-year-old Sam is about to become a father. In this book, she and Sam forge new relationships and tell of that first year in Jax’s life.

The thriller, The Professionals, is Owen Laukanen’s first novel. According to the back jacket, four friends, caught in a terrible job market, joke about turning to kidnapping to survive. And, then, suddenly, it’s no joke. For two years, they succeed, until they kidnap the wrong man, and two groups are after them. Veteran state investigator Kirk Stevens and young FBI agent Carla Windermere are after them. So is an organized crime outfit, out for payback.

Witchful Thinking is a paranormal romance from H.P. Mallory. Sassy, self-deprecating witch Julie Wilkins was shocked to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, charged with governing many factions of supernatural creatures. She can’t handle her own personal life, torn between a warlock who is the love of her life, and a seductive vampire sworn to protect her.

Investigative reporter Carter Ross returns in Brad Park’s third mystery, The Girl Next Door. When a delivery person for the Eagle-Examiner ends up in the paper’s obituaries, Ross decides to write a human interest piece on her. It’s only at the funeral that he learns that the hit-and-run victim had a few enemies, including the newspaper’s publisher. As Carter digs deeper, he may dig his own grave.

Liar Moon is Ben Pastor’s second novel to follow Baron Martin von Bora, an officer in the Wehrmacht who reluctantly becomes an investigator of delicate cases. In this one, he’s sent to Verona, Italy to investigate the murder of a prominent local fascist, a bizarre death that threatens to discredit the regime’s public image.

Reviewers are already talking about Chris Pavone’s debut thriller, The Expats. Kate Moore and her husband, Dexter, pack up their family and move to Luxembourg. Kate expects a low-key life, but she and her husband both have secrets. And, those secrets lead the reader from the streets of Luxembourg to Paris to the red light district in Amsterdam in a story that twists and turns.

Thomas Perry wraps up the list with a Jane Whitefield thriller, Poison Flower. Jane help James Shelby disappear, but once she does men posing as police officers kidnap her, and shoot her. She refuses to reveal Shelby’s location, even though she’s tormented. Her escape, wounded and alone, leads her captors and the police on a cross-country chase, where she struggles to survive using the traditions of her Seneca ancestors.

Do any of these twelve books jump out at you? They’ll be available in March, so you might want to reserve them at your local library now, or place your order with your favorite bookstore.

File M for Murder by Miranda James

Charlie Harris is a librarian and an intelligent amateur sleuth. But author Miranda James is even smarter. James knows the real reason readers love the Cat in the Stacks mysteries is because we love Diesel, the Maine Coon cat in the books. In the latest book, File M for Murder, Diesel has a much larger role, and fans will be happy.

The appearance of Charlie’s daughter, Laura, in Athena, Mississippi, was a joyful surprise. She and her brother, Sean, had kept it a secret that she was coming to teach drama for a semester at Athena College. Charlie couldn’t have been happier, until he learned it was an old boyfriend, playwright Connor Lawton who pulled strings to get her the job. The few times Charlie and Diesel met the man, they had been repelled by his rudeness and unpleasant nature.

When Sean brought a defaced photo of Laura to Charlie’s attention, he was outraged, but she laughed it off, saying it was a jealous actress who hung on to Connor. But, Connor’s behavior toward Laura wasn’t a laughing matter. And, none of the family had reasons to laugh when Connor was found dead, and Laura was the one who found him. Naturally, a former girlfriend would be on the top of the suspect list.

Laura’s hiding something, but Charlie, Sean, and Diesel team up again to protect her. It’s going to take Charlie’s research skills, and Laura’s knowledge of the victim, to uncover the truth.

File M for Murder is only the third book in this delightful series, but Charlie Harris and Diesel continue to grow and become even more attractive as characters and sleuths. Diesel’s personality has blossomed. He chirps and warbles, demands treats, hides his treasures. He remains a cat, one who understands emotions, feelings, and knows when something is wrong. He’s an essential part of Charlie’s life, and a vital element in the charm of these books.

In the first book, Charlie was a lonely figure, a widower, not close to either of his children. By the third book, he’s a father, a landlord, and a cat owner, filled with joy, surrounded by family and friends. And, he’s an intelligent amateur sleuth, who does his research, and realizes he’s getting too involved in cases. “I decided it was the librarian in me, the part that always wanted to help people find the information they needed. I wasn’t a busybody, surely.” Charlie Harris is smart enough to dig for answers, and then turn those answers over to Chief Deputy Kanesha Berry. My kind of sleuth, one who can even laugh with others that this isn’t an episode from a TV show in which the suspects are all brought together, and the amateur detective endangers himself. Charlie was very much aware of the danger to his family, and he did everything he could to prevent it.

Readers who want an intelligent amateur sleuth with a loveable sidekick won’t go wrong if they pick up Miranda James’ Cat in the Stacks mysteries. File M for Murder should be filed under “E” for entertaining.

Readers can visit Diesel at Facebook.com/DieselHarriscat.

File M for Murder by Miranda James. Berkley Prime Crime. ©2012. ISBN 970425246184 (paperback), 294p.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.

Home Front by Kristin Hannah

How often do we truly look at the families left behind when we’re watching TV and see troops leaving for war? The media doesn’t cover the injured soldiers who return, unless something goes tragically wrong. Kristin Hannah’s novel, Home Front, is a moving story that shows the tragedy inside families, the tragedies we don’t think of when we send troops off to war zones.

Jolene Zarkades grew up in a dysfunctional family, watching her mother plead for the love of her alcoholic family. At seventeen, she lost both parents when her father drove drunk, and there was an accident. As soon as she could, she enlisted, and found a family, the military, and a role in life flying helicopters. It was her first love, and her best friend, Tami Flynn, was right there beside her for ten years in the army. Both women moved on to the National Guard so they could be home with the men they married, and their families.

Jolene loved her husband, Michael, and her two daughters. At twelve, Betsy was just starting to go through the rough pre-teen years. Lulu hadn’t even started kindergarten yet. When Michael sank into depression after the death of his father, she expected him to “choose happiness” as she did in her life. Instead, he spent more and more time at his office, until one night he changed their world, saying, “I don’t love you anymore.”

Those are the words that would haunt both of them when Jolene and Tami’s unit was called up to deploy to Iraq. “She’d always been two women – a mother and soldier – and this deployment ripped her in half, left a bloody, gaping tear between the two sides of her.” As she left behind daughters, knowing she wouldn’t see Lulu's first day of kindergarten or her fifth birthday, Michael was left in a role he was not prepared to play, the parent responsible for caring for two girls. And, they would both remember those words, “I don’t love you anymore.”

Chief Warrant Officer Jolene Zarkades flew helicopters in Iraq, hiding the risks from her family, until it was too late to hide the danger. When disaster struck, no one in the Zarkades family was prepared to deal with the changes in their lives.

Kristin Hannah’s Home Front is both heartbreaking and inspiring. It’s a novel of family, and a story about courage, in so many forms. It’s a story seldom told, that of a woman who is career military, and the family she is forced to leave behind. It’s a powerful story revealing troublesome issues about our returning troops. Sometimes fiction has the ability to uncover issues that aren’t as easily seen in nonfiction. Home Front does that, taking readers inside a military family, before and after tragedy.

Home Front is also available from Macmillan Audio. Here's a clip, if you'd like to hear it.

http://media.us.macmillan.com/video/olmk/macmillanaudio/homefrontfbclip.mp3

Note: Tuesday is release date for Hannah’s book. I have an interview coming up soon with her, about this book. And, this week’s book giveaway, starting Thursday night, will be copies of Home Front.

Kristin Hannah’s website is http://www.kristinhannah.com/.

Home Front by Kristin Hannah. St. Martin’s Press. ©2012. ISBN 9780312577209 (hardcover), 390p.

Macmillan Audio. Unabridged. ISBN 9781427212658.

FTC Full Disclosure – I was sent copies of the book in order to participate in a blog tour.

Fifth Victim by Zoë Sharp

No one can manipulate tension in the way Zoë Sharp does with her Charlie Fox thrillers. In fact, she does it so well that I’ll confess right here I couldn’t read Fourth Day, the novel in which Charlie Fox and Sean Meyer went undercover into a California cult. I own the book, and it went on to become a Barry Award finalist for Best British crime novel. Even though I normally read books in order, I skipped that one and went right on to the new release, Fifth Victim.

With her partner, Sean, in a coma, Charlie has been under a great deal of stress, going to the hospital every day, trying to talk Sean out of it. Parker Armstrong, her boss, understands Charlie’s need to work, so his latest job offer will come as a distraction, taking her mind off Sean’s condition. The job will plunge her into the lifestyles of the rich and spoiled brats.

 In the last year, three young people, children of wealthy parents with homes on Long Island, have been kidnapped, and later returned when their parents paid the ransom. They were “Rich people who would do anything to avoid bad publicity.” They paid up, never telling the police or the FBI. Now, Charlie agrees to be the bodyguard for Dina Willner, the twenty-year-old daughter of Caroline Willner, a wealthy investment banker. Charlie’s job isn’t made easier by the fact that Charlie likes both Caroline and Dina, despite the ongoing power plays between the two women. And, it isn’t made easier by Dina’s association with all three of the previous kidnapping victims.

Their own horses, twenty-first birthday parties on magnificent yachts, bodyguards, limousines, charity auctions, and Lear jets are all part of the world of these young people. Boredom and anger at their parents also seem to be a part of it. When Charlie foils a kidnapping attempt at the stables where Dina rides, she’s struck by the excitement all the young people seem to share after the incident. As the violence escalates, kidnapping becomes the least of Charlie’s problems.

As I said, no one manipulates tension as Zoë Sharp does. She plunges the reader into the action instantly, beginning her books in the midst of the action, then backtracking to the original story. She kickstarts the action so quickly, and the tension, that the reader never has a chance to grow complacent. There’s trouble coming for Charlie Fox, and we always know that it will get bad, because Sharp clues us in. At the same time, she leaves us dangling. Three kidnapping victims. Three ransom demands. Why is the latest Charlie Fox thriller called Fifth Victim? Take a deep breath, and plunge into another gripping story by a master of manipulation.

Zoë Sharp’s website is http://www.zoesharp.com.

Fifth Victim by Zoë Sharp. Pegasus Crime. ©2011. ISBN 9781605982762 (hardcover), 445p.

FTC Full Disclosure – Library book

Purgatory Chasm by Steve Ulfelder

Since I had only read one book on the list of Edgar nominees, I picked up Steve Ulfelder’s Purgatory Chasm. It’s nominated for Best First Novel by an American Author. It’s one heckuva ride.

Conway Sax owes his survival to the Barnburners. He’s an ex-con, a recovering alcoholic and addict. The Barnburners saved his life. The group started as an outcast AA group that the national organization refused to sanction, bikers and WWII GIs. They might be sanctioned now, but at times, they still needed Conway skills, “Skills I’d picked up in rail yards, alleys, county jails.” He was a mechanic, a NASCAR driver, and the son of an alcoholic. And, Conway helps Barnburners, no questions asked, even when they’re as obnoxious as Tander Phigg.

When Tander asks Conway to help him get his Mercedes out of a garage that’s holding it hostage, Conway thinks there’s more to the story, but he won’t turn down a Barnburner. But, before he can get too far into the Tander’s story, Conway is hit over the head and thrown in the street, and Tander is found dead, supposedly a suicide. One shrewd New Hampshire State Trooper thought otherwise, but no one listened to him. Conway agreed, but, as an ex-con on parole, he didn’t want to mess with the police. So, it was just like Conway Sax to start his own investigation, one that can lead to more than a beating outside a garage.

Conway Sax is complex character. However, his character is perfect for a recovering alcoholic. He has problems with commitment, and can’t decide if he wants to live with his girlfriend, Charlene, or stay in his own house. She’s a recovering alcoholic who pulled herself up through hard work, and she recognizes his issues. He has a hard time dealing with his relationship with his father. When his father shows up in a hospital, he doesn’t know if he should hug him or throttle him. At the same time, this is a man who has two cats who were once abused, and he named them after race car drivers, Dale and Davey. He has a great relationship with his girlfriend’s young daughter. Charlene sums him up with, “You don’t trust anybody until you trust them. And then you trust them too much.”

Conway is the ideal character for this hardboiled novel. He’s committed to the Barnburners, so he’ll throw himself completely into Tander Phigg’s case, no matter how much it hurts him physically and emotionally. And, he’ll chase every convoluted story and crooked character until he finds the truth. He’s a race car driver, a recovering alcoholic who launches himself wholeheartedly into everything he chooses to do.

Purgatory Chasm is a hardboiled, fast-paced novel. It’s an action-packed, solid debut, worthy of an Edgar nomination. Steve Ulfelder deserves kudos for the story. Most of all, he deserves kudos for the creation of Conway Sax, a memorable character.

Steve Ulfelder’s website is www.noparticularorderblog.blogspot.com.

Purgatory Chasm by Steve Ulfelder. Minotaur. ©2011. ISBN 9780312672928 (hardcover), 288p.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.