Lesa's Book Critiques

Death on Tour by Janice Hamrick

2012-01-27T03:00:00.001-07:00

Janice Hamrick’s Death on Tour not only won the Mystery Writers of America’s/Minotaur Books First Crime Novel Award, but it is also one of this year’s nominees for the Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award. And, this debut novel deserves to be one of the nominees. Hamrick’s story is an excellent traditional mystery that combines a shrewd amateur sleuth and a fascinating setting, Egypt.

Who is any better at observing human nature than an intelligent high school teacher? Jocelyn Shore is the narrator, a history teacher on her dream tour, a once-in-a-lifetime guided tour of Egypt, joined by her cousin, Kyra. It’s shocking when Millie Owens, one of their fellow tourists, falls to her death at the base of a pyramid, but no one is grieving about the loss of the “old bat,” the pushy snoop on the trip. Jocelyn finds something odd about it, so she’s not surprised to learn from another member of their group, Alan Stratton, that Millie was murdered. And, she’s even less surprised when she finds Millie’s bag, filled with stolen items from her fellow travelers, and a notebook with her nasty observations about each of them.

Jocelyn begins to suspect there is a problem with the group, something that caused Millie’s death. And, despite her attraction to Alan, he’s as mysterious as several other fellow tourists. As Kyra and Jocelyn squabble over Alan’s attention, he seems just as interested in their actions. Why do vendors pick out the two cousins, calling them sisters from Utah? Another death just adds to Jocelyn’s suspicions that someone on their trip is up to no good.

Jocelyn Shore is a terrific amateur sleuth. She’s observant, understands human behavior. At the same time, she’s not stuffy, and not perfect. She and her cousin, Kyra, are competitive, and, at times, taunt and tease each other. She compares herself unfavorably to Kyra. And, she fights her attraction to Alan Stratton, the mystery man, who seems as suspicious of her as she is of him.

For those of us who enjoy armchair travel, Hamrick includes the itinerary for the WorldPal tour of Egypt, and she goes into detail as to the various sites on the trip. Her descriptions of the historic sites are wonderful. She also manages to capture the flavor of a tour group, with its varying personalities, perfectly.

Joyce Hamrick’s book has wonderful descriptions, a likable amateur sleuth, a little romance, and a mystery. Death on Tour is a delightful debut.

Janice Hamrick’s website is www.janicehamrick.com.

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

Winners and Mysteries set in the early 20th Century

2012-01-26T18:02:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to the winners of the last contest. C.J. Box’ Back of Beyond will go to G.S.M. of Houston, TX. Kat B. of Winterset, IA will receive Sandi Ault’s Wild Penance. I’ll put the books in the mail tomorrow.

This week, I’m giving away two mysteries set in the first half of the twentieth century. Irene Fleming’s The Brink of Fame takes readers into the early days of American cinema. Emily Daggett Weiss thinks the film production company she owns with her husband is thriving, until she arrives in Arizona in 1914 to find he lost the studio in a poker game. Left penniless, Emily gets a job in California. It has one catch. She has to find a missing film star before she can direct her first film.

Or you could win Mignon F. Ballard’s Miss Dimple Disappears, a mystery set in Georgia in 1942. No one at the school in Elderberry, Georgia, suspect anything more than a heart attack when the custodian is found dead, apparently of a heart attack. But, when Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, a fixture at the school for more than forty years, disappears the following day, town residents are shaken. School teacher Charlie Carr and her friend, Annie, decide to investigate, and they uncover danger surprisingly close to home.

1914 or 1942, which do you prefer? You can enter to win both contests, but I need separate entries. Send your entries to me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. The subjects should read, either “Win The Brink of Fame” or “Win Miss Dimple Disappears.” Please include your name and mailing address in the body of the entry. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

The contest will end at 6 p.m. MT on Thursday, Feb. 2. I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winners, and mail the books out on Friday

The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney

2012-01-26T03:00:00.002-07:00

I wondered why I was continuing to read Stef Penney’s The Invisible Ones, I realized it wasn’t the mystery that fascinated me. And, it wasn’t the characters because there really wasn’t a loveable one in the book. Instead, it was the story of “the invisible ones,” Gypsies in England.

When Ray Lovell woke up in a hospital after running off the road and into a tree, he had no memory of any of it. He had some paralysis, and he couldn’t talk at first. What led the private investigator to that point?

Ray Lovell was half-Gypsy, so Leon Wood, a Gypsy, picked him to look for his daughter. He hadn’t seen his daughter, Rose, in seven years, and he wanted Ray to find her. The last time anyone in her family saw her was at her wedding to Ivo Janko, another Gypsy. Ivo and her father-in-law both said she ran off with a non-Gypsy, but Rose’s father suspected murder.

Perhaps Ray was initially drawn into the case because he never felt as if he was a Gypsy. His father had been rejected by his family when he married, learned to read, and became a postman. Ray grew up in a house, so the Gypsy life of travelers was not one he knew well. The investigation sucked him in, and he was fascinated by the secrets in the Janko family.

But, J.J. Smith, a fourteen-year-old, knew nothing other than the Traveler life. He was part of the Janko family, a small family with five trailers on a site. Many of the men in the family suffered from a hereditary disease, making J.J. the only healthy young one. The role as a healthy young man, helping to care for a great-uncle in a wheelchair and a cousin with the family disease left him oddly responsible at times, but immature when it came to relationships with other teens.

Penney alternates narrators in The Invisible Ones. Ray’s viewpoint tells of his investigation into the the secrets of the Janko family, who don’t want him looking for the missing Rose. J.J.’s story is the inside look at a Gypsy family, but, as a teen, J.J. doesn’t really understand the interplay between the adults in his life.

The Invisible Ones unfolds slowly as Ray looks for answers that no one wants to share. And, in fact, most of the Janko family members really have no clue as to the answers. Ray Lovell continues on in a case that never seems to end, although tragedy leads to a conclusion that satisfies him.

Penney’s novel is intriguing and dark. It’s really the story of two men changing and growing into their lives. It’s more literary, more descriptive than the mysteries I usually read and enjoy. There is hope for both narrators by the end of The Invisible Ones, but there is hope for them, despite the Gypsy lifestyle, not because of it. Even so, it’s that lifestyle, still part of the English and Irish cultures, that made this story compelling to me.

Stef Penney’s website is http://www.stefpenney.com/.

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

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

2012-01-25T03:00:00.001-07:00

Shannon Hale’s Midnight in Austenland was everything I had hoped P.D. James’ Death Comes to Pemberley would be. Granted, I shouldn’t be comparing the two, but I was so disappointed in James’ book. And, Hale’s, although it is set in modern times, is a joy. The heroine overcomes her fears, and saves herself. That’s my kind of heroine.

Charlotte Kinder is a nice woman, but after her divorce, she no longer thought she was nice. She had been so busy building a million dollar business, and taking care of her two children that she didn’t notice her husband slipping away. She was shocked when he asked for a divorce because he had found someone else. Charlotte was just numb. Only Jane Austen could save her.

It was a list from her teen years that saved Charlotte, who was going through life feeling nothing after the divorce. On that list of things to do before she turned thirty, was “Read Jane Austen.” Maybe, Charlotte was past thirty, but when she took the time to delve into Austen, she could finally feel again. And, her kids’ visit with their father gave her the time to take her own vacation, a two week stay in Austenland. At Pembrook Park in Kent, England, it was always 1816, and the men and women lived by Regency etiquette. Everyone had a role to play. Charlotte could become Mrs. Charlotte Cordial for two weeks, a widow and a houseguest, while she flirted with actors who played the gentlemen.

Perhaps Charlotte spent too much time reading Northanger Abbey. Her first thought upon seeing Pembrook Park was, “This is the sort of house where murders happen.” She found herself enjoying the company of the actors, and the friendship of the other women who were there as houseguests. She was fully prepared to spend two weeks enjoying a little romantic dalliance. As part of the entertainment, they were all caught up in the story of Grey Cloaks Abbey and the mystery of the death of the nuns there. Charlotte thought it was great fun, until, after a fire, she began to suspect that there really had been a murder at Pembrook Park, and one of the actors might be a killer. Suddenly, she had the chance to become a victim, or a heroine in her own life.

Shannon Hale’s Midnight in Austenland is fun, with a great deal of humor, a mystery, and romance. Charlotte Kinder is a wonderful heroine, smarter and stronger than she gives herself credit for. Hale turns Charlotte’s entire experience at Pembrook Park upside down, but it’s still an experience that Charlotte appreciates. And, readers who enter the story with Charlotte’s sense of adventure and anticipation will find the story meets expectations. Midnight in Austenland is a joy to read.

(Oh, and, if Shannon Hale reads this, I loved the dedications to both books, Austenland and Midnight in Austenland. I always read the dedications, even if a certain British actor might not.)

Shannon Hale’s website is http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me an Advanced Reading Copy, hoping I would review the book.

Unlikely Friendships by Jennifer S. Holland

2012-01-24T03:00:00.001-07:00

I’m getting ready for next week’s brown bag luncheon for library patrons, and I needed to add a few more library books. Jennifer S. Holland’s Unlikely Friendships is a fun addition to the list. I wish you could all see the photographs that the participants will be able to see when I share the book.

Unlikely Friendships is subtitled “47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom.” In a series of short essays, the author discusses “surprising and uncommon bonds between members of two nonhuman species. They are stories from recent years, and they come from all over the world. For those who question whether animals can form friendships, the author responds, “In all the cases that follow, the animals involved are arguably better off – more confident, physically stronger, in higher spirits – after finding each other than they were before.”

Some of the stories are familiar, such as the one about the elephant, Tarra, and the dog, Bella, who became friends. But, there are two stories when animals acted as seeing-eye animals for others. In one pairing, it was a dog for a cat, two animals that were found together after Hurricane Katrina. The other was a cat who acted as a seeing-eye cat for a dog she grew up with. There are unusual friendships, such as the one between the owl and the spaniel. Then, there’s the pit bull, the Siamese cat, and the chicks who all hang around together. The rat and the cat are great friends in one household. And, I wish you could see the pictures of the iguana and the house cats. The pictures in this book are enchanting.

To be honest, it’s the pictures that make this book fun. The short essays are just average accounts. And, I always object to the light colored type. It’s difficult to read in artificial light, and I wish publishers would discontinue it. Biologist Barbara King summed the book up perfectly, “These stories help us get in touch with the best in ourselves.”

FTC Full Disclosure – Library book

Be the Miracle by Regina Brett

2012-01-23T03:00:00.003-07:00

I don’t know when I’ve had such a difficult time writing about a book as I have with Regina Brett’s second book, Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible. Brett is the author of the bestseller God Never Blinks, a book I loved so much that I bought copies for all of:the libraries in our system, and donated them in Jim’s memory. Be the Miracle has a similar format, fifty chapters of essays, lessons in life. How do you summarize fifty chapters of lessons?

Regina Brett challenges readers to be the miracle in life, to be a change factor. It doesn’t matter if you make a large change or take a small step. A smile, a song can change someone’s day. Yes, the owner of the construction company could afford to donate a room for a child’s home. He could get a team together to build that home. But, he had to make the decision that he would make that change. Then there was the woman who insisted on taking a doll to Honduras in the midst of a medical emergency. She insisted that a child was waiting for that doll. The team that went to the country, lugging a large doll, thought it was just in the way as they prepared to help people after the hurricane that devastated the country. Instead, they found a little girl who dreamt a stranger would bring her a doll.

Brett is a cancer survivor, so many of her essays deal with cancer, people who lived life to the fullest even with a fatal diagnosis. She tells the story of The Gathering Place, one woman’s dream for a place in Cleveland where families and patients could find rest and a place of instruction and peace. She provides advice from cancer survivors as to what friends can offer to do to help them. And, she’s honest about her own struggles with her diagnosis, and her bargains with God.

So many essays touched my heart, and made me cry. However, one essay stuck with me, the story of women who didn’t have time to volunteer, but had money they could give. They join their power by bringing together 100 women, meeting for one hour, and raising $10,000 in that one hour for one charity. It’s fascinating to read about women who can change the world, one hour at a time.

Regina Brett doesn’t hide her faith, or her struggles with life. She’s written moving, emotional essays that challenge readers to make a difference in life. The book might not be for everyone. And, sometimes it seems as if the book is stretched a little so that there are fifty lessons. However, Be the Miracle is a challenging book, a book that could change lives, and change the world, one person at a time.

Regina Brett’s website is www.ReginaBrett.com.

FTC Full Disclosure – Library book.

Penguin's February Mysteries - Berkley Prime Crime and Obsidian

2012-01-22T03:00:00.001-07:00

There are a couple mistakes in today's video. I apologize to Lorraine Bartlett for the repetition, but Josh distracted me, and I didn't catch it until too late. Sure, blame it on the cat!

Walter's Muse by Jean Davies Okimoto

2012-01-21T03:00:00.001-07:00

I recently reviewed Walter's Muse by Jean Davies Okimoto for Library Journal. The following review is reprinted from the January 2012 issue, with permission.

Okimoto, Jean Davies. Walter’s Muse. Endicott & Hugh Books. Feb. 2012. 354p. ISBN 9780983711513. Pap. $17.

Okimoto's second book in her island trilogy (after the award-winning The Love Ceiling) also features a strong, mature woman searching for happiness.

Maggie Lewis’ role as a caretaker was established early in life when her bipolar father killed himself, her mother’s health failed, and her younger sister needed her. Now, at 65, after retiring from her job as an elementary school librarian, she hopes to kayak, read, and have time alone. However, Maggie can't ignore cries for help. Despite having a bad history with children’s author Walter Hathaway, she steps in to watch his dog when Walter is injured in a fall. At the same time, Maggie's drama queen sister shows up, uninvited, but Maggie has a hard time rejecting her.

Verdict: It takes time for readers to like the curmudgeonly Maggie and Walter, but eventually they will connect with this warm story of two lonely peole finding each other late in life. Okimoto shows how mature characters can grow. Readers who like slow-paced, descriptive novels, mature characters, and women's fiction will appreciate this novel. (Founded in 2009, the publisher specializes in fiction and poetry for readers aged 50 and above. - Ed.)

Lesa Holstine, Glendale Public Library, Glendale, AZ

Copyright 2012. Library Journals, LLC. Reprinted with permission.

FTC Full Disclosure - My copy was supplied by Library Journal in order to review the book.

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

2012-01-20T03:00:00.003-07:00

Once in a while (not often when you read as much as I do), a book comes along that is amazing, surprising in its originality. Melissa Marr’s Graveminder is such a book. It’s not new. It won the Goodreads Readers Choice Award for Best Horror for 2011. However, with the paperback just out, I had the opportunity to participate in the blog tour for the book. And, honestly? I can see why it’s called horror, but it isn’t horrifying. It’s remarkable.

Two people have the responsibility of keeping the people of Claysville safe. One is the Graveminder, and the other is the Undertaker. They have a partnership and a duty to the community. Only a few people in town understand the relationship, the mayor and the city council. And, those people were the only ones who knew the town’s secrets. But, when Maylene Barrow, the Graveminder, was killed, it was time to call her granddaughter, Rebekkah, home. Claysville always lured its residents back. By law, everyone ever born within town limits had to be buried there. The town founders made a bargain. Rebekkah Barrow might not have known anything about the original bargain. But, she was a Barrow woman, and she inherited the job of Graveminder.

Rebekkah had felt tied to Byron Montgomery for years, but, after her stepsister’s death, she tried to break those ties. However, Byron’s father was the Undertaker to Rebekkah’s grandmother, and Byron felt the call to come back to Claysville even before Maylene died. Now, the two of them learned that they had an unbreakable connection. If Rebekkah was to be the Graveminder, Byron was her Undertaker. They were part of a long chain, “Held accountable for keeping the town safe when there is trouble. We are what stands between the living and the dead.”

The Claysville dead were supposed to be properly buried within 48 hours of death, and then they were to be minded by the Graveminder.Three sips ofrom a silver flask, then the words, “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.” But, when Maylene Barrow was killed, something was horribly wrong in town. It didn’t matter that Rebekkah had tried to run from Byron for years. It was now her job to come home, and make things right. It was Rebekkah and Byron’s job to tend to the dead.

If Graveminder sounds creepy, believe me, it isn’t. It’s a beautifully written, engrossing story of two people learning to accept their proper role in life, even though they are unusual roles. It’s fascinating to watch these two remarkable characters grow into their new lives. Graveminder is a ghost story, a horror story with two strong people who survive because of their love, love for each other, and love for their community. Marr’s descriptions are unusual, and fascinating. It’s a story of the natural world of death, corrupted. And, as much as I’d like to tell a little more, I can’t without spoiling the story itself.

Melissa Marr’s Graveminder is an unusual, gripping story. I’m hoping there will be a sequel. There are so many Claysville stories left to tell.

(On a personal note, the new book cover is the one at the top of the post. On her website in a December post, Marr says, “The trade paperback edition of the book-with a different look, aiming for haunting instead of creepy-is out next month.” I’m ending with the cover of the hardcover, so you can see it. Frankly, I preferred that one.)

Melissa Marr’s website is www.melissa-marr.com.

Graveminder by Melissa Marr. HarperCollins. 2012. ISBN 9780062115164 (paperback), 352p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I already had an ARC sent by the publisher in hopes I would review it, so I used that for this blog tour.

Winners and the Mysterious West Giveaway

2012-01-19T18:01:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to the winners of the last contest. Carolyn Hart's Dare to Die will go to Shirley M. of Dallas, TX. Wendy A. from Ferndale, WA won Katherine Hall Page's The Body in the Gazebo. The books will go out in the mail tomorrow.

This week, I'm giving away mysteries set here in the West. Sandi Ault's WILD series is set in New Mexico's native lands. In Wild Penance, Jamaica Wild, Bureau of Land Management agent, comes across a secret society that practices excessive penance. But, someone isn't happy that she's putting together a book of sketches and research. After she witnesses a death, she herself is threatened. Jamaica Wild's investigation could end in tragedy.

Or, you could win an ARC of C.J. Box's Back of Beyond. Cody Hoyt is a brilliant copy, a struggling alcoholic, and a man determined to track down the person who killed his friend and mentor. His investigation leads him to the remote corners of Yellowstone Park, and a trail that could destroy Hoyt's son.

Do you want to win Wild Penance or Back of Beyond? You can enter to win both, but I need separate entries. Send your email entries to me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. Your subject headings should read either, "Win Wild Penance" or "Win Back of Beyond."Entrants from the U.S. only, please.

The contest will end next Thursday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. MT when the winners are drawn by random number generator. Good luck!

Edgar Award Nominations

2012-01-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Here's the press release from Mystery Writers of America about the Edgar nominations. I'm going to be very honest and say I've only read one book on the entire list. I read many more traditional mysteries, so I do much better when the Agatha and Anthony Award nominations come out. I did see one of the plays, though! Congratulations to the Arizona Theatre Company for their nomination for "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club."

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 203rd anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2011. The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 66th Gala Banquet, April 26, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

BEST NOVEL
The Ranger by Ace Atkins (Penguin Group USA – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Gone by Mo Hayder (Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Minotaur Books)
1222 by Anne Holt (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
Field Gray by Philip Kerr (Penguin Group USA - G.P. Putnam’s Sons – Marion Wood Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Red on Red by Edward Conlon (Random House Publishing Group – Spiegel & Grau)
Last to Fold by David Duffy (Thomas Dunne Books)
All Cry Chaos by Leonard Rosen (The Permanent Press)
Bent Road by Lori Roy (Penguin Group USA - Dutton)
Purgatory Chasm by Steve Ulfelder (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett (Hachette Book Group – Orbit Books)
The Faces of Angels by Lucretia Grindle (Felony & Mayhem Press)
The Dog Sox by Russell Hill (Pleasure Boat Studio – Caravel Mystery Books)
Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper Paperbacks)
Vienna Twilight by Frank Tallis (Random House Trade Paperbacks)

BEST FACT CRIME
The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins (Crown Publishing)
The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge by T.J. English (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
by Candice Millard (Random House - Doubleday)
Girl, Wanted: The Chase for Sarah Pender by Steve Miller (Penguin Group USA - Berkley)
The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial
Imposter by Mark Seal (Penguin Group USA - Viking)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
The Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson and the Secrets
Behind the Most Compelling Thrillers of our Time
by Dan Burstein, Arne de Keijzer & John-Henri Holmberg (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making by John Curran (HarperCollins)
On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda (Princeton University Press)
Detecting Women: Gender and the Hollywood Detective Film by Philippa Gates (SUNY Press)
Scripting Hitchcock: Psycho, The Birds and Marnie
by Walter Raubicheck and Walter Srebnick (University of Illinois Press)

BEST SHORT STORY
"Marley’s Revolution" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by John C. Boland (Dell Magazines)
"Tomorrow’s Dead" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by David Dean (Dell Magazines)
"The Adakian Eagle” – Down These Strange Streets
by Bradley Denton (Penguin Group USA – Ace Books)
"Lord John and the Plague of Zombies" – Down These Strange Streets
by Diana Gabaldon (Penguin Group USA – Ace Books)
"The Case of Death and Honey" – A Study in Sherlock by Neil Gaiman
(Random House Publishing Group – Bantam Books)
“The Man Who Took His Hat Off to the Driver of the Train” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by
Peter Turnbull (Dell Magazines)

BEST JUVENILE
Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger (Abrams – Amulet Books)
It Happened on a Train by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Vanished by Sheela Chari (Disney Book Group – Disney Hyperion)
Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press)
The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey (Egmont USA)

BEST YOUNG ADULT
Shelter by Harlan Coben (Penguin Young Readers Group – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (Penguin Young Readers Group – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall (Random House Children’s Books – Knopf BFYR)
The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines
(Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group – Roaring Creek Press)
Kill You Last by Todd Strasser (Egmont USA)

BEST PLAY
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club by Jeffrey Hatcher
(Arizona Theatre Company, Phoenix, AZ)
The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig (Cleveland Playhouse, Cleveland, OH)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Innocence” – Blue Bloods, Teleplay by Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (CBS Productions)
“The Life Inside” – Justified, Teleplay by Benjamin Cavell
(FX Productions and Sony Pictures Television)
“Part 1” – Whitechapel, Teleplay by Ben Court & Caroline Ip (BBC America)
“Pilot” – Homeland, Teleplay by Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff (Showtime)
“Mask” – Law & Order: SVU, Teleplay by Speed Weed (Wolf Films/Universal Media Studios)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"A Good Man of Business" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
by David Ingram (Dell Magazines)

GRAND MASTER
Martha Grimes

RAVEN AWARDS
M is for Mystery Bookstore, San Mateo, CA
Molly Weston, Meritorious Mysteries

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Joe Meyers of the Connecticut Post/Hearst Media News Group

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 25, 2012)
Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)
Come and Find Me by Hallie Ephron (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
Death on Tour by Janice Hamrick (Minotaur Books)
Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry (Crown Publishing Group)
Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)

# # # #
The EDGAR (and logo) are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the Mystery Writers of America, Inc.

Winter Brown Bag Luncheon

2012-01-19T03:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my winter brown bag luncheon for the library staff. Once again, I had the chance to talk about fifteen books I read in the last few months. Now, I'll share those books with you as well. (I love the brown bag luncheons!)

Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook. Sandy Sullivan is great at staging houses, but her husband is dragging his feet on selling theirs, so she takes off to Atlanta to visit her daughter.

Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self edited by Joseph Galliano. Creative successful people offer advice to their sixteen-year-old selves.

A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio by Bob Edwards. The former NPR commentator discusses his career.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn. Fascinating account of how Flinn transformed nine culinary novices into fearless home cooks.

A Vine in the Blood by Leighton Gage. The kidnapping of a Brazilian soccer player’s mother, just before the World Cup, brings Chief Inspector Mario Silva’s team into the case while the entire country watches.

Down the Darkest Road by Tami Hoag. The disappearance of Lauren Lawton’s daughter four years earlier haunts her life and that of her daughter. Once she moves to Oak Knoll, CA, that case becomes an issue of the police in that town since she claims her daughter’s kidnapper is there.

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. The only authorized Sherlock Holmes novel finds Watson narrating an old case in which Holmes takes on the highest ranks of society following the murder of a young boy.

Walter’s Muse by Jean Davies Okimoto. In the first summer of her retirement, a school librarian’s peaceful island life is disrupted by her sister’s appearance, and her neighbor, a famous children’s author.

Sketch Me If You Can by Sharon Pape. First in the Portrait of Crime series brings together a police sketch artist on Long Island, and the ghost of an Arizona federal marshal as they become partners in the search for a killer.

Following Atticus by Tom Ryan. An overweight, middle-aged newspaper man adopts a miniature schnauzer who becomes his companion in hiking New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Best Friends, Occasional Enemies by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella. Essays about the lighter side of life and the mother/daughter relationship.

The Night Sky: A Journey From Dachau to Denver and Back by Maria Sutton. A woman’s journey to find her father, and her family takes her back to WWII and its aftermath.

Everything I Know About Love I Learned from Romance Novels by Sara Wendell. Lessons about life and romance that can be learned from romance novels.

The Mother Daughter Show by Natalie Wexler. Every year, the mothers of the senior girls at an exclusive DC prep school put on a talent show, an endeavor that can lead to pettiness, bitterness and disaster, as well as humor.

The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish For Our Daughters by Jeffrey Zaslow. The story of Becker’s Bridal in Fowler, Michigan, the family that owns it, & eight of the 100,000 brides who bought their wedding dresses there.

A Place to Die by Dorothy James

2012-01-18T03:00:00.001-07:00

I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m sometimes disappointed in books when I agree to participate in a blog tour. In fact, on two occasions, after reading the book, I backed out. I didn’t have that problem at all with Dorothy James’ thoughtful, unusual mystery, A Place to Die. It’s the first in the Inspector Georg Büchner series. It’s a book that absorbs the reader into a world where neither the past nor the future are kind.

Eleanor and Franz Fabian traveled from New York to Vienna, Austria, to spend Christmas with Franz’ mother at the Haus im Wald, a retirement home. Neither liked Franz’ mother, but they arrived out of duty. Then, they were caught up in the drama of a homicide investigation when a man is found dead in his apartment, brutally struck down and murdered. Eleanor finds it intriguing, and fancies herself as Eleanor Marple, anything to escape the boredom of life with her husband. And, her questions do provide a few bits of information for the actual detective, Chefinspektor Georg Büchner.

A Place to Die is not a fast-paced mystery by any means. Instead, it is a study of a place, and the people who went there to finish their lives. Büchner and Eleanor, both middle-aged, find themselves studying their elders, wondering how they themselves will spend their final years. And, it’s the story of a particular group of people, Austrians who survived World War II, and their children, now middle-aged, unable to communicate with their parents.

That December, there were an unusual number of deaths in the Haus im Wald. Since one of them was murder, Büchner started to look at a few of the other deaths and incidents involving people in their seventies, and even nineties. And, he discovers that so many of the residents and staff members in the home have skeletons they’ve kept hidden in their closets. And, someone has been sneaking hints about those skeletons, nasty little hints left where residents will find them. Someone is stirring up trouble in the Haus im Wald.

The Haus in Wald sucked Büchner and Eleanor Fabian in. They were caught up in the drama, the secret histories of the residents, and the search for a killer. The residents are so representative of society, with pettiness and secrets. Büchner finds a retired psychiatrist living there, someone to bounce ideas off of, someone who understands human nature. Those conversations with Dr. Lessing and the Inspector are absorbing, and enlightening.

Dorothy James’ A Place to Die is a mystery involving a murder, and Inspector Georg Büchner finds the killer after he spends a few days in residence at the home. But, in so many ways, A Place to Die remains a mystery, a story of our own aging, and our own secrets. It’s quiet, thoughtful, and a powerful book.

Dorothy James’ website is www.viennamysteries.com.

“Dorothy James was born in Wales and grew up in the South Wales Valleys. Writer, editor, and translator, she has published short stories as well as books and articles on German and Austrian literature. She has taught at universities in the U.S., England, and Germany, makes her home now in Brooklyn and often spends time in Vienna and Berlin.

“She wrote A Place to Die in her attic apartment on the edge of the Vienna Woods. She has travelled far from Wales, but has not lost the Welsh love of playing with language; she writes poems for pleasure as does Chief Inspector Büchner, the whimsical Viennese detective who unravels the first mystery in this new series of novels.”

FTC Full Disclosure – I received this book to participate in the blog tour.

Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

2012-01-17T03:00:00.001-07:00

Anytime I recommend a book about a dog to one friend, I have to assure her the dog lives, or she won’t read the book. I’m going to recommend Tom Ryan’s Following Atticus to her this week. Not only does Atticus live, but Ryan writes a blog called The Adventures of Tom & Atticus, so she can continue to read about the intrepid little dog.

Tom Ryan was the editor, publisher, and lone employee of the Undertoad, a small newspaper in Newburyport, Massachusetts, when he agreed to adopt an older miniature schnauzer, a miserable looking dog he named Maxwell Garrison Gillis. Max became Ryan’s companion at home, and on his travels around Newburyport, as he covered stories and delivered the newspaper. But, Max was old, and he lost his fight for life only a year and a half after he took over Ryan’s life.

Ryan needed that dog so much. As the youngest of nine children, he felt as if he lost his family when his mother died tragically when he was only seven. His father didn’t know how to cope, and his anger eventually forced all his children away. Ryan grew up without a loving home. His job as editor of the paper in the contentious community of Newburyport won him some friends, but just as many enemies. He was a lonely, heartbroken, overweight middle-aged man when he reached out for another miniature schnauzer.

The search for a puppy brought Paige Foster into his life, the breeder who sent him a small, six pound puppy, a dog who was “different.” From the moment Paige told him to carry that dog with him everywhere for a month, Ryan felt a bond with the puppy he named Atticus Maxwell Finch. And, he was a dog that was “different,” one who accompanied Tom everywhere on his rounds. And, eventually, Atticus and Tom Ryan built an unbreakable bound as they climbed the White Mountains of New Hampshire. For these unusual companions set out to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire's four-thousand-foot peaks, not just in summer, but also in winter.

Following Atticus is an emotional story of a man, his beloved friend, Atticus, their mountains, and the lessons Tom Ryan learned from Atticus and the mountains. It’s the story of a man and his dog, but it’s also the story of Tom Ryan’s life. It’s the story of a man learning to deal with his past, coming to terms with his father, and learning to understand him. It’s the story of a man, who for eleven years, worked to change a town torn apart by politics, factions, and the past.

If you’re not into the descriptions of mountains and nature as much as Tom Ryan is, that’s the part of the book that becomes a little tedious. However, his descriptions are full of poetry and philosophy, perfect for a man who hikes mountains with one companion.

The prologue of the book is beautiful, an introduction to a pair of unlikely adventurers. I dare you to read the prologue and the book, and not fall in love with Atticus. He’s a heroic little figure. Ryan’s description of Atticus Maxwell Finch is a wonderful depiction of the little fellow. However, it sums up Tom Ryan’s spirit, and the book, as well. “He is Frodo Baggins; he is Don Quixote; he is Huck Finn. He is every unlikely hero who ever took a step out the door and found himself swept up in adventure.”

Tom Ryan’s website is www.tomandatticus.blogspot.com

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

Murder in a Basket by Amanda Flower

2012-01-16T03:00:00.001-07:00

Amanda Flowers caught my attention when she told me her mystery series featured a librarian on a college campus in northeastern Ohio. Some of those are my trigger words; librarian, northeastern Ohio, and mystery. I was definitely interested in trying her second India Hayes mystery, Murder in a Basket.

India Hayes is a college librarian at Martin College in Stripling, Ohio, just north of Akron. And, in that section of the country, October is a beautiful time to hold a festival. India, a struggling artist as well as a librarian, is coerced into running the face painting booth at the Stripling Founders’ Festival. Her sister, Carmen, is a powerful force, and she’s chair of the festival this year. Carmen even forced her to wear a pink gingham pioneer dress, so India is embarrassed when she sees the other artists and vendors wearing tee shirts. Fortunately, she finds a friendly artist in the adjoining booth. Tess Ross seems to be an easy-going basket weaver who can even force Carmen to back down when she objects to the presence of Tess’ dog, Zach.

But, someone had a problem with Tess. When India rushes back to her booth later that evening, realizing she left a money bag there, she finds Tess’ body. And, in a small community, there are complicated connections, and a number of suspects. It seems Tess was the trustee for Zach, a two million dollar dog. And, Tess’ brother, the college provost, wasn’t happy with her. She had fought with her husband, a blacksmith. A beader was mad at her. Only Tess’ son, Derek, seemed to care enough to ask India to nose around to find out who killed his mother. And, Derek, a student aide at the library, had been bothering India there for quite a while. He might not have the right distance about his mother’s murder. Despite her mixed feelings about Derek, India agrees to look into his mother’s death, since she had already uncovered one killer.

As I said, Amanda Flower enticed me with her book because of her setting in northeastern Ohio. I recognized the description of the area, and its history, one that has a common history with my hometown. It was fun to travel there in festival season, in October with its leaves, crispness, and Halloween.

India made a delightful amateur sleuth, and the mystery was enjoyable, although the actual killer seemed to come out of nowhere. But, anyone who follows this blog knows how much I enjoy interesting characters. This book certainly is full of characters, beginning with India’s own family. India’s mother is a Presbyterian minister, and her father is in a wheelchair. They’re activists, reformers who know how to work the media in a good fight for their causes. They’ve about given up on their children. Carmen inherited her mother’s powerful presence, but she uses her influence in other ways. India’s brother is traveling the world, and India is a respectable member of academia. Or as respectable as “A crime-solving librarian” can be. Then there’s India’s sidekick, her landlady, Ina Carroll, a true loose cannon. Add two interesting cats, and a dog worth two million dollars, and Flower’s cast is a treat for anyone who enjoys eccentric characters.

When Kirkus Reviews reviewed Flower’s first mystery, Maid of Murder, they mentioned Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow mysteries. I think they’re right. If you enjoy Meg’s eccentric characters, you might want to step into India Hayes’ world in Murder in a Basket.

Amanda Flower’s website is www.amandaflower.com.

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

Sketch Me If You Can by Sharon Pape

2012-01-15T03:00:00.001-07:00

I had been hoarding the books in Sharon Pape’s Portrait of Crime mystery series, so when she told me the third one was due out soon, it was time to go back and start the first book, Sketch Me If You Can.

Zeke Drummond thinks Rory McCain is, “One cantankerous female.”” Of course, Zeke is the ghost of a federal marshal, who really doesn’t understand the role of modern women. Rory, a sketch artist for the Suffolk County Police on Long Island, thinks he’s too overbearing. She accuses Zeke of being, “The most frustrating, obstinate man I’ve ever met”. Maybe they both need to back off just a little.

When Rory’s uncle, Mac McCain died, her left her his car, his private investigation business, and his house. The first couple times she went to his house, she was mourning his death, and just thought maybe she missed him when she felt uneasy in the house. She hadn’t read the letter Mac left her, telling her his business boomed after he partnered with the ghost in his house, the ghost of a federal marshal. Ezekial Drummond had been shot in the back there in 1878. So, she was in denial when Zeke first showed up.

It’s while she’s cleaning out her uncle’s office that one of his former clients approaches Rory to ask her to look into his sister’s death. He swears she was murdered, while the police say it was an accident in the new house she was decorating. She’s intrigued enough to ask a few questions. But, when the questions stir up trouble, Rory and Zeke start pushing back. And, they both suspect the woman’s death may have resulted in Mac’s death. It’s hard to stop a “cantankerous woman” and the ghost of an “obstinate man.”

This debut novel in the series is fun, with two characters with interesting backgrounds. Zeke Drummond was a federal marshal in the Arizona territory in 1878. The author provides just enough of that storyline in Arizona to pique the reader’s interest. Zeke was following a man there who kidnapped young girls, and after finding a girl’s body in the desert, he was more determined to find the killer. This book focuses on Zeke’s search in Arizona. It doesn’t reveal yet how Zeke reached New York, but I’m sure it’s coming.

Rory McCain is a police sketch artist, licensed as a detective because of that job. It’s a job that works for her in this case, and she’s able to work with Zeke for needed sketches. Rory and Zeke may have worked successfully together to wrap up a couple murder cases in Sketch Me If You Can, but it’s going to be fun to watch the relationship between these two as they squabble, learn to work together, and learn to work across the difference in styles that result from living in different centuries.

Sharon Pape’s website is www.sharonpape.com.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, with no assurance I would review it.

Sandie's Corner - Cat Telling Tales

2012-01-14T03:00:00.001-07:00

Sandie Herron stepped in when I needed help today, and she has a review for Sandie's Corner. Thank you, Sandie!

Cat Telling Tales

Shirley Rousseau Murphy

William Morrow, 2011 (November 22, 2011)

I enjoy this series more and more with each entry. Taking place in the fictional town of Molena Point, California, it is home to a colony of special cats as well as humans in many creative vocations. I love how each book centers on a different family or cat, and we get to know them better. Each character -- human and cat -- grows with each book in this highly recommended series.

This is the 17th Joe Grey mystery, and Shirley Rousseau Murphy has created a tale with many twists and turns. Murphy is still discovering new sides of the cats, and she shares that with us – such as Dulcie becoming quite the poet. These tales have to be the definition of anthropomorphism, but Mrs. Murphy makes it so much fun. If you can suspend your disbelief just a little, you won’t have any trouble believing in sentient cats who can speak and read yet still retain all their natural instincts. Joe Grey and all the special cats we know do not share their abilities with just anyone; they basically keep it secret from all but the humans they live with, and amongst themselves.

Unfortunately, Molena Point did not escape the effects of the Great Recession any more than any town in America. Some families who could no longer pay their mortgages disappeared in the middle of the night, leaving their pets behind to fend for themselves. Most pet animals do not remember the instincts needed to hunt and capture food so they rely on the kindness of strangers. Some of the cats gather by the cliffs where the local veterinarian leaves food every morning and evening. Secretly John Firetti hopes to find one of the special cats among the many cats he has fed for 50 years.

Another result of the Great Recession was the creation of a meth house in one of those empty homes in Molena Point! While Police Chief Max Harper and his excellent staff shut down the operation, they struggle to keep things from starting up again. The MPPD is diligent in patrolling the area.

One Sunday morning Joe smells bacon and Kippurs cooking for breakfast. Did I mention how spoiled the cats are? Joe’s human companions, Ryan and Clyde, scan the morning papers for houses. Even a rundown cottage is worth something in Molena Point, but someone is snapping them up before they even hit the paper and then letting them sit. They wonder if these houses are investments for out-of-towners who have been misled or perhaps are part of a flipper’s scheme.

Ryan has received a letter from Debbie Kraft, an old schoolmate, pleading for a place to stay. Joe is perplexed as to why Ryan is doing nothing about the letter. Debbie and her two children have been evicted from their apartment on which her husband stopped paying. Now she has no place to go and is hoping Ryan will take her in. What is even stranger is that Debbie’s mother lives in Molena Point and so does her ex-husband, a prominent real estate agent. To Joe, this letter and this family moving in only spell disaster. Ryan spotted Joe sitting on the letter and informed him that there’s no way Debbie and daughters were moving in.

Days later Joe awakes to see fire burning up by the cliffs. Ryan and Clyde have already left for the day, so he dials 911. Joe knows the fire is very near Max Harper and his wife Charlie’s ranch and that their horses would be in danger. Charlie calls Ryan for help, and she returns home for the proper gear. Joe hitches a ride with Ryan, and they all race to the Harper ranch and discover it untouched yet must still minister to the spooked horses. There was a structure that had burned – an old worker’s shack across from the Harpers. There was a charred body in that shack, still in bed. Billy Young was frantically peddling his bike up the hill to his burning home when he sees the gurney and must make sense out of the scene laid out for him.

Max breaks the news of his grandmother Hesmerra’s death as gently as he can to Billy. Billy won’t leave without the seven stray cats he has rescued, so they gather them up and put them in a stall at the Harper’s. Harper also insists that Billy stay with him rather than turn him over to child services.

To Joe’s disbelief, Debbie Kraft arrives late one evening with her two daughters in tow. After putting up resistance, Ryan and Clyde open the door and the three push in along with suitcases and assorted junk. Joe finds a stash of cash in one of them, thousands of dollars. However, Ryan and Charlie kick them out the next day to live in one of their empty homes that needs work, with them protesting every single step of the way.

The police must deal with the woman who was Hesmerra’s neighbor until she was evicted just days before the fire. Emmylou is now living in her car. She unearthed a metal box from underneath Hesmerra’s bed that holds all sorts of papers with Kraft Reality letterhead. She doesn’t know what they all mean, but she knows Hesmerra told her that everything she had of importance was underneath the bed. Torn between keeping it and turning it in, she keeps moving it around to find a safe place for it, so the cats are able to sniff for the ashes and follow her trail.

Now things start to really twist and turn and wind back on themselves. Debbie Kraft is looking for a place to live even though her mother lived here, her young nephew is now orphaned, her ex-husband is here, or so his office says, and her sister lives in luxury married to the other partner in the local reality firm. Neither sister wants Billy. Neither sister wanted anything to do with their mother and couldn’t care less that she’s now dead, probably murdered.

Emmylou keeps looking for a place to stay and tries her friend Sammie’s home that’s already been tossed by someone else and stinks to high heaven. She tries Kraft’s partner’s place that’s been empty for weeks, but the police chase her out of there. Debbie Kraft is protesting over the single family home that Ryan and Clyde have offered her to live in for a good cleaning. Debbie seems to know more about her husband’s real estate deals than a divorced wife would. But the worst part about Debbie comes out when the Molena Point residents learn her daughter once had a cat that they kicked out. It found its way to a local nursing home and did wonders for the residents until it burned down, and no one had seen him since. Debbie didn’t care if he were alive or dead.

What does Debbie know that keeps her from a routine finger printing? What does Emmylou know that keeps her from a finger printing after a crime? Will she find a place to live? What’s happened to Sammie, her home, and where are her cats? Where is Kraft’s partner sending e-mails from when no one has seen or talked to her for weeks? Where is Kraft himself when he can’t be found at their alternate office as the office is telling clients? What will happen to the stray cat who lived at the nursing home? Will Misto ever find his son again? What is going to happen to Billy? And his stray cats? How does the auction go with thousands of dollars of donated items, artwork, etc to be auctioned off for the cat charity and in exchange for homes for the stray cats? Will Ryan and Clyde be able to celebrate their first wedding anniversary on the night of the auction?

As I closed the book last night, I felt very content. All those plot lines came untangled and answers were found. Joe Grey, Dulcie, Kit, and their new friends have risked everything to help their humans. Their humans risked their lives to protect their community and their cats. Shirley Rousseau Murphy writes a magical story that is precious and full of every emotion.

This review for CAT TELLING TALES has been particularly difficult for me to write because it was so involved and had so many plot twists and turns and involved so many of the people in Molena Point. Even more so, one plot line had to do with The Great Recession. More people are homeless in affluent Molena Point and more animals are starving and abandoned. This part was not fiction, and I knew that. I have struggled myself (haven’t we all in one way or another?) and I am caring for a feral (?) cat who lives in my yard.

However, in the end in Molena Point, less people are homeless and an incredible auction was held to find homes for the stray animals. Many of us read mysteries because they make the world right in the end, or at least better. And that is exactly what Mrs. Murphy has done.

Lois Winston, Guest Blogger

2012-01-13T03:00:00.001-07:00

It's my pleasure to welcome Lois Winston back as this year's first guest blogger. And, once again, Lois is working with a partner. So, thank you, Lois and Anastasia!

Guest blog 1-13-12 LESA’S BOOK CRITIQUES

Last year when Lesa invited me to do a guest post on her blog, I interviewed Anastasia Pollack, the crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth protagonist of my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. Lesa has invited me back for another guest blog as part of my month-long blog tour to celebrate the release of Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series. So I thought it only fitting to bring Anastasia along with me once again, especially since I’d never hear the end of it if I didn’t.

Anastasia: You’ve got that right, sweetie. Besides, you owe me.

Lois: How so?

Anastasia: Are you kidding? Look at the life you’ve written for me! Every time I turn around, you’re dumping more problems on me, not to mention dead bodies. And what’s with that communist mother-in-law?

Lois: Well, it is a murder mystery series.

Anastasia: Admit it; you really have it in for me.

Lois: Go ahead, blame me. After all, it is National Blame Someone Else Day.

Anastasia: I’d blame you no matter what day it was.

Lois: Why don’t you tell everyone what you’re blaming me for this time.

Anastasia: In Death By Killer Mop Doll it isn’t bad enough that you’ve got me dealing with overdue bills and constant mother vs. mother-in-law battles. My stress level is maxed to its limit when my fellow editors and I get roped into an unpaid gig for a revamped morning TV show. Before the glue is dry on my mop dolls, morning TV turns crime drama. The studio is trashed, a member of the production team is murdered with one of my knitting needles, and a blackmail plot is uncovered. And guess who lands directly in the killer's unforgiving spotlight? Moi! Thanks to you!

Lois: At least I’ve created an exciting life for you.

Anastasia: I could do with a little less excitement, thank you very much! How about writing me into a vacation on a tropical island for the next book? You owe me after what you’ve put me through first in Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and now in Death By Killer Mop Doll.

Lois: I’m not making any promises.

Anastasia: You never do.

Lois: I’m guessing many people don’t know what a mop doll is. Why don’t you tell them?

Anastasia: You’re changing the subject.

Lois: Not really.

Anastasia (sighing): A mop doll is a doll crafted from a cotton string mop, those mops you often see janitors using in office buildings.

Lois: Ugh! Really?

Anastasia: Not used string mops! Ones that have never come in contact with a bucket of Mr. Clean.

Lois: Good to know.

Anastasia: Anyway, crafters are very resourceful people. We’re constantly finding new uses for readily available materials, and cotton string mops are readily available in just about any hardware store, home store, or supermarket.

Lois: How did this come about?

Anastasia: At some point in the late 1980’s, these dolls started popping up at crafts fairs, first in California, then throughout the country. Suddenly, mop dolls were all the rage, and mop head manufacturers were selling tens of thousands of mop heads to craft stores. Like all trends, though, the mop doll craze eventually went the way of the pet rock -- until now, thanks to me.

The picture shows you with a mop doll at Bouchercon this past September. You’re the one who looks like she’s fighting a cold.

Lois: I was. Tell us about the mop doll in the photo.

Anastasia: For anyone attending The American Library Association’s Mid-Winter conference January 20-24 in Dallas, Midnight Ink will be raffling off this hand-crafted mop doll during the opening reception Friday evening. Librarians and reviewers in attendance are encouraged to stop by the Midnight Ink booth #1459 to register for the drawing.

Lois: Anything else you’d like to tell readers of Lesa’s Book Critique?

Anastasia: Sure, they can read more about me (and you) at your website: http://www.loiswinston.com/. In addition, my fellow editors and I blog at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/, where you’ll find craft projects, recipes, guest authors and more.

You have anything you’d like to add?

Lois: I’d like people to know that I’m doing a blog tour and book giveaway this month in celebration of the release of Death By Killer Mop Doll. The schedule is posted at my website and at Anastasia’s blog. Everyone who posts a comment to any of the blogs over the course of the month will be entered into a drawing to win one of 5 copies of Death By Killer Mop Doll. In addition, I’m giving away 3 copies of Death By Killer Mop Doll on Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/15173-death-by-killer-mop-doll

Anastasia: I guess that about wraps things up except to thank Lesa for inviting us.

Lois: Absolutely. Thanks, Lesa!

BIO: Lois Winston is the author of the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries published by Midnight Ink. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. The new year brings with it the release of Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series. Read an excerpt at http://www.loiswinston.com/excerptap2.html. Visit Lois at her website: http://www.loiswinston.com/ and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/. You can also follow Lois and Anastasia on Twitter @anasleuth.

Death by Killer Mop Doll by Lois Winston. LLewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. 2012. ISBN 9780738725857 (paperback), 302p.

Winners and a Traditional Mystery Giveaway

2012-01-12T18:25:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to all the winners of the Blog Anniversary Giveaways! Thank you for entering the contests. And, I really want to thank everyone for participating in this special anniversary giveaway. I hope you continue to read the blog, and enter the contests in the future.I enjoy sharing the wealth of books.

Here are the winners. (I will be contacting you later tonight.)

Dead Bolt by Juliet Blackwell - Rosalind L. of San Antonio, TX
Among the Departed by Vicki Delany - Karen C. of Cleburne, TX
A Vine in the Blood by Leighton Gage - Nancy H. of Deephaven, MN
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman -Faith W. of Lexington, KY
Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy - Charlotte W. of Covington, GA
Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet - Beverly A. of Colorado Springs, CO
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny - Sue C. of Eugene, OR

Now that the blog anniversary giveaways are over, it's time to kick off the weekly giveaways for 2012. If you're new to Lesa's Book Critiques, I give away two books a week, usually starting and ending the contests on Thursday nights, unless my schedule forces a change. This week, I'm giving away traditional mysteries. And, my rules stipulate you have to submit separate entries for each book.

This week, you could win an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of Carolyn Hart's Dare to Die. Dare to Die is part of her Death on Demand series. A mysterious, beautiful young woman named Iris shows up on Broward's Rock, tearing the town apart. Annie and Max Darling are perplexed until Iris attends a party at their house, and an unknown assailant tries to kill them.

Or you could win a hardcover copy of Katherine Hall Page's The Body in the Gazebo. Faith Fairchild, the caterer and amateur sleuth, has two crimes on her hands. One is over eighty years old. And, the other involves her husband, and the theft of funds at his church. Faith wants to clear her husband's name while solving a crime that goes back to the Great Depression.

So, pay attention here! I'm changing the email address to enter these contests. You must email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com in order to enter. I need separate entries for each. Your subject line should read either, "Win Dare to Die" or "Win The Body in the Gazebo." You must include your name and mailing address in the body of the entry, or you can't win. Entries only from the U.S., please.

The winning entries will be selected by random number generator when the contest ends at 6 PM MT on Thursday, Jan. 19th.

Good luck!

World Book Night

2012-01-12T04:00:00.003-07:00

Have you heard about World Book Night? The event will take place on April 23, 2012 across the U.S., UK and Ireland. During World Book Night, 50,000 people, named as “book givers,” will each be giving away 20 books from a select list with a goal to have 1,000,000 people across the United States alone celebrating reading en masse. There will be adult books and young adult titles given away. People can sign up at http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/about-world-book-night/register-as-a-2012-giver by February 1st to apply to be a “book giver.”

You can see the complete list of titles that includes books from authors like Jodi Picoult, Michael Connelly, Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver and Junot Diaz, among others at: http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/wbn2012-the-books. There are titles such as The Hunger Games, The Stand, and The Kite Runner.

I've put in my application to be a "book giver." What better way to share a book you love? I hope you check it out!

Anniversary Giveaway #7

2012-01-12T04:00:00.001-07:00

What would a week of giveaways be without a book by Louise Penny? As I said, I'm celebrating the anniversary of my blog by giving away books by favorite authors, and Louise Penny counts as a favorite author, and a friend. So, I have a trade paperback of Bury Your Dead, a masterpiece, to give away.

Bury Your Dead is a complex story with three storylines. And, just as when I reviewed it, I won't go into too much detail because it will spoil the book. But, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is in Quebec City during Winter Carnival. Penny carefully brings the city and the Carnival to life, but contrasts it with a violent death, a discovery at the Literary and Historical Society, where Gamache is doing research. This novel is brilliant, connecting previous books and earlier storytlines.

And, I won't say anymore about Bury Your Dead. If you would like to win a copy, email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. Include your name and mailing address. And, be quick about it. This is the final giveaway, and the contests close at 6 p.m. MT tonight.

If you go back through the blog for the last week, you still have until tonight to enter any of the contests. Good luck!

Anniversary Giveaway #6

2012-01-11T04:00:00.002-07:00

Agatha Award-winning author G.M. Malliet is another author I've never met. She and I were at Left Coast Crime at the same time, but I only saw her across the room at a breakfast. She's the author of the St. Just series. But, in 2011, she launched a new traditional mystery series with Wicked Autumn. I have an ARC (advanced reading copy) of that book to give away.

Malliet manages to bring so many elements of the tradtional British village mystery to this book that it makes it a treat. The sleuth, Max Tudor is a former MI5 agent turned Anglican priest. And, it's the day of the village's annual Harvest Fayre when the murder occurs. So, we have the priest as the sleuth, a village fair, and a village full of suspects in a story brought up-to-date by the use of Ebay to sell village products. Wicked Autumn is a fun traditional mystery that celebrates the best of the British mystery.

If you would like to win Wicked Autumn, email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com.Your subject line should read, "Win Wicked Autumn." Please include your name and mailing address. The winner will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. MT.

Daddy Long Legs - The Musical

2012-01-10T04:00:00.001-07:00

Bear with me, please, and I'll eventually get to the book, Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. But, first, I want to talk about theater.

I love theater. My hometown, Huron, Ohio, has Ohio's oldest continuing summer theater, The Huron Playhouse. The first play was produced there in 1949, and each summer, there is a complete season of plays. When I was a child, my mother took us to the annual children's play they put on, so she exposed all of us to theater at an early age. I was lucky enough to take a History of Theater and Drama course in college, one that required us to attend and review plays. Then, when I went to grad school in Washington, D.C., I took advantage of the student rates at the theaters, and saw a play at every theater in D.C., from the Kennedy Center to Ford's Theatre and the Folger Shakespeare Center. I have season tickets to ASU Gammage's Broadway series.

Arizona Theatre Company, the state theatre company of Arizona, has productions in both Tucson and Phoenix. Here in Phoenix, they appear at the Herberger Theater. I've seen two of their productions, and have tickets to their next show, Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps. Both shows I saw had the most magnificent sets, with beautiful detail.

At the present time, Arizona Theatre Company is hosting a traveling show, Daddy Long Legs. It's based on Jean Webster's 1912 epistolary novel. The show has been touring for two years as a two person musical starring Megan McGinnis as Jerusha Abbott and Robert Adelman Hancock as Jervis Pendleton. The Arizona Theatre Company's play guide summarizes this production. "From the Tony Award-winning director of Les Misèrables and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and the creators of the Tony Award-nominated Jane Eyre, comes a heartwarming new musical based on a book beloved for generations. Daddy Long Legs tells of a young girl’s Cinderella journey into womanhood, aswell as a confirmed bachelor’s awakening into love. Told through a series of letters between Jerusha Abbott, the oldest orphan at the John Grier Home, and Jervis Pendleton, her mysterious benefactor, Daddy Long Legs is a testament to the power of the written word and its ability to touch our hearts. An elegant and inventive romance, this award-winning musical love story has been lauded for its innocence, its sheer beauty, and its depth of emotion, not to mention its magnificent musical score. Winner of three prestigious Ovation Awards including Best Book, Best Score and Lead Actress in an Original Musical."

Daddy Long Legs came to Arizona from Cleveland, and it will be continuing to tour the country. If you get the chance to see it, grab it. This was a fascinating production, on a beautiful split set. Except when Jervis Pendleton met with Jerusha, he spent his time in a gorgeous library, reading Jerusha's letters to "Daddy Long Legs," and reacting to them. That library was on a raised set, while Jerusha, in her college years, appeared on the lower level set, writing, reciting and singing her letters. Megan McGinnis has a strong, beautiful voice, perfect for this charming story. Robert Adelman Hancock, who played Jervis Pendleton, didn't have as many solos, although he often echoed Jerusha's songs. However, Hancock, in his role in the shadows, was intriguing. At times, while Jerusha sang, I caught myself watching Pendleton. His mannerisms, his hands, his movements were so expressive as he responded to her letters. Even when he didn't say a word, he could dominate the stage.

Let me share one of Arizona Theatre Company's clips of Daddy Long Legs, as it's shown on YouTube.

Jean Webster wrote Jerusha Abbot as a young, modern woman, independent with thoughts about women's rights and social service, particularly as it dealt with orphanages. But, it's not a heavyhanded message in the book or this production. Daddy Long Legs is a romance, the story of a young woman from an orphanage, and the wealthy philanthropist who grows to love her. It's a magical, charming production.

I have to say, I was impressed with the number of men in the audience who were enthusiastic about the show. I heard one man, at intermission, tell his wife, "This is such a, a joyful production. This is why we go to theater."

Daddy Long Legs, as a book, or this wonderful production, can take you away to an earlier time, another world, a romance. There are so many ways to experience it. See the play, if it comes anywhere near you. You can read the play guide on Arizona Theatre Company's website by going to the education section. And, if you can't get Jean Webster's Daddy Long Legs, you can read the text, free, online here - http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/157/157.txt. But, as a friend warned me, "If you so much as glance at the text, you will be sucked into reading the whole thing."

Anniversary Giveaway #5

2012-01-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

I've met many of the authors whose books I'm giving away this week, but I've never met Julie Hyzy. I just happen to like her White House Chef mystery series featuring Ollie Paras. So, today, you have the chance to win a copy of her brand new mystery, Affairs of Steak.

It's no secret that executive chef Olivia (Ollie) Paras and the White House sensitivity director, Peter Everett Sargeant, don't get along. But, they are forced to work together to find the venue for a party to honor the secretary of state. And, once they find two bodies at the latest site, they're forced to work even closer. Someone knows they found the bodies, and, it's soon evident that they're both in danger. To make it worse, at the same time, it seems that someone has a target on Sargeant at the White House. He's not everyone's favorite person, but Ollie isn't willing to sit by and watch him get pushed out of his job.

So, for the fifth day of the anniversary giveaways, you can enter to win Affairs of Steak. Email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. Your subject heading should read, "Win Affairs of Steak." Include your name and mailing address. All winners will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. MT.

Anniversary Giveaway #4

2012-01-09T04:00:00.001-07:00

Many of you may already have read this book by one of my favorite authors, and favorite people. But, once in a while, I pick up an extra copy of Beth Hoffman's debut novel, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, just for times like this. It gives me a chance to introduce people to a beloved book, in case you haven't yet discovered it.

If you don't know the story, I was given an advanced copy of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt to review for Library Journal. I loved the book, and wrote a review that Library Journal starred. I had never met nor heard of Beth Hoffman since this was her first book. Beth wrote me a thank you note, and we began exchanging emails. She's become a friend that I cherish.

And, I cherish this book, so it's book #4 in the anniversary giveaway. Twelve-year-old CeeCee is a child with a troubled childhood in Ohio. When tragedy hits, her great-aunt swoops in, and whisks her off to Savannah. There, CeeCee discovers a group of strong, eccentric women who take her into their hearts, and their lives. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is about one special summer in a young girl's life, and the women who show her possibilities.

Do you want to win Saving CeeCee Honeycutt? Email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. Your subject line should read, "Win Saving CeeCee Honeycutt." Please include your name and mailing address. The winners will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. MT.

If Fried Chicken Could Fly by Paige Shelton

2012-01-09T03:00:00.001-07:00

Paige Shelton is the author of the bestselling Farmers’ Market mystery series. However, she just launched a new series, the Country Cooking School mysteries, and I liked the first one in this series, If Fried Chicken Could Fly, even more than her other books. If you follow this blog regularly, you know I read for character. If Fried Chicken Could Fly has terrific characters, including a wonderful ghost, and a perfect setting for a series involving ghosts.

Betts (Isabelle) Winston launches into her description of the murder investigation in the opening paragraph. “If the items in the cast-iron skillet hadn’t burst into flames just as Gram was dunking the coated chicken breast into the hot bubbling grease, we might not have found the dead body so soon.” Betts and her grandmother, Missouri Anna Winston, known as Miz or Gram, run a cooking school in Broken Rope, Missouri. The night students are preparing to judge the annual cook-off when the fire starts, so they are all sent home. It’s only when they go hunting for cleaning supplies that Betts and Gram find the body of Everett Morningside, the man Gram was supposed to meet up with after work. When Everett’s wife shows up, accusing Gram of killing her husband, the police lock Gram up.

And, Gram isn’t being very cooperative. Betts, a law school drop-out, knows enough to get her the best attorney in town. In the meantime, Betts turns to her best friend, Jake Swanson, the local historian, for help in digging into the issue. Nothing is simple in this case. Gram won’t talk. The ghost of a bank robber shows up, seen only by Gram and Betts, and it’s his past that seems to be a driving force in the murder. And, Betts’ old high school sweetheart has returned to town just in time to join the police force, and work on the investigation. Betts started out by trying to help Gram, but, with “Old treasures, dead bank robbers, contortionists….It was only getting more outrageous, not less.”

The whole plot, including the ghost, might sound outrageous, but it works as well as the cooking school and the recipes for comfort food. Perhaps it’s due to the setting. Broken Rope, Missouri celebrates its past, the gruesome stories and odd tales of death. There were knife battles, gunfights, and hangings. Now, the past brings tourists to town, and it’s the base of the economy. With such a violent past, it somehow seems logical that ghosts would be hanging around.

And, Betts, with her interesting family and friends, is the perfect narrator for this story. She may be an amateur sleuth, but, with her grandmother arrested the week of the cook-off, she has a reason to get involved in the case. And, there’s that ghost hanging around, trying to help her, while needing help himself. How can Betts turn down a good-looking needy ghost?

Settle in to read about Broken Rope, its history, its ghosts and citizens, and a murder. Enjoy the discussion of comfort food, and the recipes for fried chicken, Champagne cookies and red velvet cake. Paige Shelton’s If Fried Chicken Could Fly is mystery comfort food.

Paige Shelton’s website is www.paigeshelton.com

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

Anniversary Giveaway #3

2012-01-08T04:00:00.001-07:00

Like Steven F. Havill, Leighton Gage is an author who deserves a bigger readership. His Chief Inspector Mario Silva investigations, set in Brazil, bring the country to life, with all its politics and problems, Silva, a Chief Inspector with the Federal Police, can investigate murders all over the country. That provides Silva and his team with the ability to travel, and it provides the author the opportunity to peer into various stories of the country.

A Vine in the Blood, the latest investigation, can be read without reading previous stories. It isn’t as graphically violent as some of Gage’s earlier books. However, it’s as topical as all of the previous ones in the series. On the eve of the FIFA World Cup, to be hosted by Brazil, a woman is kidnapped. She’s the mother of the most important player on Brazil’s team. Now, the eyes of the country are focused on the Federal Police as they search amid the large group of suspects, as people suspect the kidnapping is an attempt to throw the player off his game.

Today’s giveaway is an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of Leighton Gage’s A Vine in the Blood. If you’d like to enter to win it, email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. Your subject line should read, “Win A Vine in the Blood.” Include your name and mailing address, please, or you can’t win. Winners of all of this week’s contests will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. MT.

The Magic Room by Jeffrey Zaslow

2012-01-08T03:00:00.003-07:00

Loved, loved, loved Jeffrey Zaslow’s nonfiction book, The Magic Room: A Story About The Love We Wish For Our Daughters. But, here’s my warning. I cried over numerous chapters. One of my cats even crawled into my lap to purr since he thought something was wrong. But, I’m “mushy,” and many of the stories in this book touched my heart.

Zaslow is the bestselling author of The Girls from Ames, and coauthor of The Last Lecture. He knows how to write to the heart. He’s the father of three daughters, so it was interesting to see his account of Becker’s Bridal, a shop in Fowler, Michigan. It’s the story of four generations of women involved in owning and running the shop. That story is entwined carefully with the stories of eight of the brides who came to Becker’s for their wedding dresses. That’s eight brides, out of more than 100,000. And, there’s a little bit of Fowler in the book as well, a small town dependent on Becker’s in many ways, but, also with some resentment toward the business and all the brides who make a pilgrimage there.

Zaslow wanted to tell the story of Eva Becker, who started and ran the business until she was seventy-five, when her son and daughter-in-law forced a sale of the business. He told the story of Clark and Sharon Becker, who worked there for years until their daughter, Shelley Becker Mueller, the present owner, took over. And, then there’s her own daughter, Alyssa, who has decisions to make about the business and her own life. His account is the story of a business, grounded in realism, where there is still a place for “The Magic Room.” And, grounded in realism, with a place for magic, could be the story of some of the brides Zaslow tells about.

What do those brides carry in their hearts and minds when they step into “The Magic Room” upstairs? It’s a room lined with mirrors that carries their image into infinity, a place they only go when they’ve made the final decision as to their dress. Zaslow was looking for stories about brides who understood that marriage is more than a wedding, and it was those brides that he followed into “The Magic Room,” and then to their actual wedding. There’s the bride who was also a recent widow, the bride who showed up Becker’s with her grandmother, the forty-year-old who was a first time bride. Zaslow tells the story of women facing their marriages with maturity, understanding that life is about the marriage, not just the wedding dress. Those were the moments that made me cry. He said the weddings were all starting with a sense of hope and optimism. He was looking for something more.

Zaslow said, “I guess I wanted to stand in the Magic Room with those families whose stories touched me the most and white there, contemplate my feelings for my own daughters.” He wanted to find brides and families who gave great thought to “the love that guides and connects them.” He steered away from the stories of brides who “Think they know the kind of wedding dresses they want, but they don’t have a clear sense of the kind of life they want, or the kind of man who might best accompany them.”

By combining the stories of the business and the brides, showing that it isn’t all froth and romance, Zaslow’s book actually becomes an examination of the changing roles of weddings and marriage in society. At the same time, those stories of eight brides, who didn’t go into their marriages blindly, do offer hope. Jeffrey Zaslow’s The Magic Room provides a realistic examination of brides, marriage, and the business of a bridal shop. At the same time, there’s so much love and hope in this book that I recommend a box of tissues.

The website for this book, and the author, is www.themagicroombook.com

FTC Full Disclosure – Library book

Anniversary Giveaway #2

2012-01-07T04:00:00.001-07:00

Have you discovered Vicki Delany yet? I like her traditional village mysteries so much that I recommended them at Book Expo America when I was on the panel there. Delany combines the best of traditional mysteries with police procedurals. Among the Departed is the most recent, the fifth book in her series set in Trafalgar, British Columbia. But, there's no reason you can't start with this book.

All the books feature Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters. This time, they're investigating a cold case involving a disappearance fifteen years earlier when the father of a friend of Molly's disappeared. Now, when a body is found in the wilderness, it's time to look into that disappearance again.

So, today's giveaway is an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of Vicki Delany's Among the Departed. If you'd like to enter to win it, email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. Your subject line should read, "Win Among the Departed." Include your name and mailing address in the email, or you won't win. All winners will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. MT.

One Perfect Shot by Steven F. Havill

2012-01-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

Oh, do I have a treat for you. If you haven’t yet discovered Steven F. Havill’s Posadas County mysteries, the latest one is the perfect jumping off point. One Perfect Shot is set before any of the other stories in the series, and it’s just the right introduction to the series.

Undersheriff Bill Gastner narrates the story of a shooting in the small New Mexico County, the death of a county employee shot to death with one bullet while he was in the county grader. Everyone in the area knew Larry Zipoli, but it was hard to believe that anyone had a reason to kill him. It was going to take some digging to find the answer in this case.

But, Gastner would have someone to bounce ideas off of. Although Gastner was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the department, once in a while the sheriff would surprise him. And, he certainly did when he interviewed Estelle Reyes with an eye to bringing her on board as a deputy after she went through the academy and training. Reyes would be the first female deputy in the department. Gastner was impressed with her when he sat down with her, and she would prove that she could work long hours, and offer good suggestions. She would need to do that on a force that was sorely understaffed, especially when it came time to work a murder investigation.

Havill’s One Perfect Shot is a terrific police procedural, as Gastner details every step of their investigation. There may be a little too much information about ammunition and guns for some of us, though. Even so, if you’re a fan of the series, it’s a treat to read the backstory, to “meet” Estelle Reyes at the same time Gastner does, and to see a little younger Gastner. And, if you haven’t yet discovered the Posadas County series, but like police procedurals, I think you’ll appreciate this “first” story in the series. You’re in for a treat.

FTC Full Disclosure – I picked up my copy through NetGalley.

Happy Anniversary - To Us

2012-01-06T03:00:00.009-07:00

On January 6, 2005, I wrote the first entry in the blog that would eventually become Lesa's Book Critiques. At that time, I called it Nikki's World, naming it after the kitten that was dropped off at the library. Eventually, Maddee James of Xuni.com suggested that I change the name to reflect the book aspect of the blog, and to show it's mine. The second entry on Jan. 7, said, "I'm going to talk about books - what I'm reading, hope to read, quotes, authors, anything about the book world. Hope you want to talk!" That hasn't really changed much, has it? I'm still doing the same thing, with an emphasis on mysteries. And, I'm about to start the eighth year of writing this blog.

As time has gone on, I've enjoyed writing this blog more than I ever imagined. And, I've "met" wonderful friends through it, readers, authors, publicists, publishers' representatives, other librarians. I can't thank you enough for coming here, reading with me, catching me up to date on your reading, and, in some cases, your lives. And, I never would have imagined in 2005 that Jim would die in 2010, and so many of you would be here for me. You commented on his eulogy, and, in some cases, even gave money to your libraries in his memory. I can't thank you enough for all the times you've visited Lesa's Book Critiques.

Times are changing. Barbara Peters from The Poisoned Pen always says, though, that the format may be changing, but people will always want stories. I hope I'll continue to be here with you for quite a while to discuss those stories. I still want to discuss books, particularly mysteries, in whatever format. (Myself, I'm still fond of the actual paper book.)

So, I couldn't think of a good way to celebrate with you. I could only think to offer a week's worth of contests, seven days of them, for the seven years I've been writing this blog. I'll kick it off today, and each morning for the next seven days, I'll tell you what book I'll offer. The winners will all be announced on Thursday night, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. MT, when I'll then kick off the new year of weekly contests.

Don't worry, though. The next week isn't going to be only about contests. I'll still be reviewing books. But, today I wanted to pause, say thank you, and Happy Anniversary to us.

So, this contest is going to feature seven of my favorite authors. Not that I don't have a number of others that I like. I just happen to have copies of books by these authors that I can give away. And, I'm doing them in alphabetical order by author, since I'm a librarian (grin). So, let's start with Juliet Blackwell's Dead Bolt. It's the latest in her Haunted Home Renovation mystery series. Set in San Francisco, it features general contractor Melanie Turner, who restores old houses, but has to deal with the ghosts who haunt the houses before she can finish her jobs.

I'm going to make all of these contests easy this week. For this week only, email me at my gmail address - Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. Your entries MUST include your name and mailing address. And, each day, the subject line only has to read win...the title of the book. So, to win this book, your subject heading should read - "Win Dead Bolt." That's it. You have until Thursday night at 6 p.m. to enter. Each contest will end at the same time.

The contests are just a small way of saying thank you. Thank you for being here with me for the last seven years. I hope you continue to visit, to read, and to comment as we start the eighth year here at Lesa's Book Critiques. Happy Anniversary, to all of us who love to read and share books.

Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy

2012-01-05T03:00:00.001-07:00

Usually, if you want to feel as if you’re peeking behind the scenes, downstairs, in the White House, you can pick up one of Julie Hyzy’s White House Chef mysteries. In the latest one, Affairs of Steak, executive chef Olivia Paras spends very little time in the kitchen, so don’t expect as many details about cooking and the White House kitchen. But, the mystery is intriguing, and, once again, Ollie is smart enough to pick up the clues before even the Secret Service do.

Readers of earlier books in this series will find it ironic that Ollie has been paired up with the White House sensitivity director, Peter Everett Sargeant. To say the two of them don’t get along is an understatement. But, they’ve been assigned the job of finding the perfect venue for a birthday party for the Secretary of State. Naturally, even before they get to the venue, things go wrong. Sargeant’s shabby looking nephew, Milton, accosts them on the street, and while they’re trying to get away, a man hurrying by almost knocks Peter down. But, it’s what Ollie and Sargeant find at Lexington Place that causes the uproar. While touring the kitchen, Sargeant finds a trace of blood, and then Ollie finds two bodies, two bodies connected to the White House. It’s a crime scene that will tie Ollie Paras and Peter Everett Sargeant together, and keep the Secret Service hustling to keep up with Ollie.

It seems the killers know a little too much about Ollie, and she’s suspicious about a couple men she encounters on the Metro. But, it’s Milton, Sargeant’s disreputable nephew, who is convinced he saw the killers, and pushes Ollie to ask questions about a case she didn’t plan to get involved in. As Special Agent in Charge Leonard Gavin tells Ollie he admires her because she’s “Willing to stick your neck out – sometimes quite literally – for the greater good. You’re brave, strong, upbeat.”

Some readers may feel the same way a jealous chef does about Ollie. “Everybody goes on and on about what an asset she is to the White House. Doesn’t anyone notice that she spends more time catching criminals than she does creating menus?” In this book, in particular, there’s less kitchen life than ever, except for the book in which she was exiled from the White House. If you’re reading these books for the kitchen life in the White House, this book will be disappointing. However, if you’re reading it for Ollie, “brave, strong, upbeat,” her evolving relationships, even with Peter Everett Sargeant, and an exciting mystery involving affairs of state, you won’t be disappointed. Affairs of Steak is Ollie Paras at the top of her game.

Julie Hyzy’s website is http://www.juliehyzy.com/.

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

Down the Darkest Road by Tami Hoag

2012-01-04T03:00:00.001-07:00

Down the Darkest Road, the third book in Tami Hoag’s Oak Knoll series, is provocative, intriguing, and, definitely not for the squeamish. I find this series fascinating since it predates so many developments in forensic science, while the police know the changes are coming, and are often frustrated by that knowledge. In this case, with a book set in 1990, the police are unable to analyze a small amount of blood because the sample could be destroyed. It’s a small amount of blood that could have prevented so much tragedy.

Lauren Lawton now defines herself as the mother of a missing child. Her oldest daughter, Leslie, went missing in 1986 when she was sixteen. Four years later, the police have not been able to find evidence against the man that Lauren knows took her daughter. Now, with her husband dead, and her youngest daughter, Leah, about to turn sixteen, Lauren moves to Oak Knoll, hoping to finally end the years of uncertainty and turmoil.

But, Lauren is still living a nightmare, and when she thinks she sees her suspect, she runs into Detective Anthony Mendez of the Oak Knoll Sheriff’s Department. He has a great deal of sympathy for the grieving, angry mother, but his hands are tied, because the suspect hasn’t done anything illegal in Oak Knoll. And, his investigation only leads him to other jurisdictions where Lauren Lawton has created more trouble than the suspect has. Now, with a suspect, an angry woman, and a determined detective all in Oak Knoll, there can only be a confrontation.

Lauren Lawton has an outlet for her frustration, and she writes some of the narration, explaining her viewpoint. And, Mendez, the series protagonist, is an appealing character. But, it’s Leah Lawton, Lauren’s surviving daughter, who stands out. It’s her feelings that are so hard to read. “Sometimes Leah thought it didn’t even register with her mother that she had gone through the same experience her parents had when Leslie was taken.” Leah feels guilt, and she can’t turn to her mother. Leah cuts herself, searching for some relief. Her parents sent her away, and she didn’t see them for a month while they searched for Leslie. “It had been as if the only daughter they had was the one that was missing, and they forgot about the one right there, the one that hadn’t broken the rules, the one that hadn’t been grounded and gone out anyway.” Leah Lawton is the character that breaks your heart.

Despite some of the disgusting details, it’s hard to put down Tami Hoag’s Down the Darkest Road. And, I knew the twist about half-way through the book. Even so, I had to continue to read to see the train wreck. It was obvious there was going to be a tragic confrontation. Hoag knows how to force readers to continue to turn the pages.

Tami Hoag’s website is www.TamiHoag.com.

FTC Full Disclosure – Library book