A Ghostly Murder, A Spirited Read

A Ghostly Murder

By Tonya Kappes

Here’s an amateur mystery sleuth who believes in justice for all, even the ghostly. Emma Lee Raines has discovered that she is able to see and talk with ghosts.  These spirits who are visiting her are “Betweeners” who are unable to “cross over” because they’ve got unfinished business.  As mortals, they were murdered and their murderers have not been found and brought to justice, yet.  But now Emma Lee has been persuaded to investigate.

In this novel, part of the Ghostly Southern Mysteries series, someone killed Mamie Sue Preston, the richest woman of Sleepy Hollow, Kentucky.  She was a hypochondriac and when she died everyone thought she’d finally succumb from a real illness.  Now it looks like it was murder, and Mamie herself is telling Emma Lee her own theories and suspects.  But Emma Lee is turning up some interesting clues of her own.  Others in the town have their own motives for trying to misdirect evidence and frame certain town residents.  The twists are ingenious, and it all heats up when our amateur sleuth teams up with boyfriend Sheriff Jack Henry Ross, who is an exciting Southern gentleman, and can be less than enthusiastic about these other-worldly connections.

The settings for this series are the delightful small towns of the South, specifically in Kentucky.  The beautiful scenery is vividly described and plays a role in the plotting.  The cast of characters are such fun, leaving you feeling that y’all have enjoyed a charming vacation away.

Tonya Kappes is a best seller author with more than twenty books and four novellas.  In her works she creates inviting communities and characters.  Her other series are just as endearing:  Killer Coffee, Divorced Diva, Laurel London, Magical Cures, Olivia Davis, Spies and Spells, and the Kenni Lowry series.  This last series is set where the food is fried, the secrets are buried, and Kenni Lowry is Sheriff.  And you don’t have to wait long for the next in the Kenni Lowry series – Ax to Grind the third in this series is out September 19^th this year.

If you’d like to hear more from the author herself, in her own words and in her own Southern accent, please listen to Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Tonya Kappes at this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJcXUd-oDa8

Endangered Mystery Is Off Trail Suspense

Endangered

By Pamela Beason

               

                Please bear with me as I set your course onto the mystery trail of the suspenseful Summer Westin Mystery series by Pamela Beason.  Each book takes place in an intriguing natural environment of the great outdoors.  In these mysteries the setting, a contrast of beauty and danger, adds such an exciting dimension to the stories.

                Summer Westin, known as Sam, is a wildlife biologist, and she also writes articles about the animals and wilderness.  She’s currently Endangered in the back country of Utah.  Passing through the Red Rock Campground, she pauses and meets up with some of her Ranger friends.  She also runs into some of the camping families and unwittingly plays a part in one of the children suddenly going missing.  An intense search ensues on the rugged mountain.  Sam is determined to save the child, and also the wild cougars she loves, when people who are incited by the growing media circus begin blaming the animals for endangering people.  Even the FBI get involved in the search, and the agents assigned are wonderfully down-to-earth characters to enjoy as well.  During the course of the novel there’s even a growing question about a romantic interest for our courageous and smart protagonist.

                The mystery of what’s happened to the child is so suspenseful, you’ll never know what’s around the next corner, or where the trail of clues will take you, not to mention when Sam takes you OT – that’s off trail.  The suspects are uncovered sometimes with deliberation, and some appear unexpectedly.  The action is so engaging you’ll forget you’re a reader and start assuming you’re out there with Sam trekking across the wilderness, with heart pounding determination to save the child and the cougars. 

               

                Pamela Beason is a retired private investigator who lives here in the Pacific Northwest.  She knows the outdoors first hand because when she's not hard at work on her next book, she explores the natural world on foot, in cross-country skis, in her kayak, or underwater scuba diving.  She writes mystery and romantic suspense books with strong women, quirky sidekicks, animals both domestic and wild, a dash of humor, and a big dose of suspense.  After reading her other Summer Westin Mystery books with Sam solving mysteries in the Galapagos, and nearby in the Cascades, try her Neema Mystery series.

And if you want to hear more from the author, tune into Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Pamela Beason

A Walk on Chicago's Noir Side with Danny Gardner

        

A Negro and an OFAY

By Danny Gardner

                       This gritty Urban Noir book is a loosely fictional account about a real person, Lieutenant William Drury, a person “known for personal bravery” as was said after his death. The story takes place in the early 1950’s in Chicago and includes fresh description and detail on the underbelly of life in the city and surroundings. This author’s mastery of language in both text description and in dialogue is compelling and a real treat to read. The beleaguered protagonist faces systemic corruption and Syndicate confrontation. His fight is lined with persistence, street smarts, and a degree of fatalism. The struggle demands attention and unrelenting commitment, and the author artfully crafts the story in a way that infuses the reader with a tangible passion for the fight.

                Family and friendship are deep ties for Elliot Caprice, the Protagonist, in this book. I found these other characters also to be fascinating to read about in their dramatic relationships. I developed some real favorites among them, and I appreciate the strong men and women characters he creates in his writing. And just wait until you read the femme fatale. This author is a very successful and exhilarating genre bender who weaves unexpected elements into this Urban Noir.

                You may know Danny Gardner as a young stand-up comedian (Def Comedy Jam All-Stars vol. 12), and he also enjoys careers as actor, director and screenwriter. He has several published short pieces of non-fiction and Noir. He’s a frequent reader at Noir at the Bar events nationwide, including in Seattle at the Sorrento Hotel’s Fireside Room. He’s also a regular blogger at 7 Criminal Minds. This is his first novel, and such an impressive start to what hopefully will be a series. He is originally from Chicago and there’s no doubt his deep feeling for his hometown partly inspired the novel. In fact, his dedication of the book is “To Chicago, my love. May your south and west sides rise again.”

                Elliot Caprice is a cop on the run after charges that he killed two crooked colleagues. He returns to his hometown to find the family farm in foreclosure and the man who raised him dying in a flophouse. Desperate to raise the needed money, he starts working thanks to friends. He ends up crossing paths with a powerful family from Chicago’s north shore and a murder. Hired on the side, Elliot investigates with Chicago’s cops and the FBI breathing down his neck, the Mob watchful of his every step, and the wealthy and powerful pushing their own interests. Elliot Caprice is walking a tight wire.

And for more from the author tune into Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Danny Gardner

Revenge In Paris by Valerie J Brooks

Revenge In Paris

By Valerie J. Brooks

New Year’s in Paris sounds like a dream, but in this contemporary noir novel it’s just the beginning of a swirling nightmare for a smart and impulsive protagonist. Angeline Porter is a criminal lawyer. She knows crime when she sees it, and she’s used to seeking justice in a court room.

When she finds her sister Sophie dead from suicide, she’s overwhelmed with emotion and determined to blame someone. She settles on a likely suspect, Sophie’s French lover, and makes plans to execute her own form of justice, which is fatal. She’s passionately intent on avenging her dear sister.

Follow Angeline to beautiful Paris. She’s incognito, of course. Witness first hand her intricate plotting; how will she murder him? Her devious interactions with her target, and will he catch on in time to save himself? And other questions that pop up as she sets her trap, including that ultimate question – is she capable of vigilante murder? And if so, what happens après le murder? Well, I can tell you that the final scenes in this story present a jarring predicament.

Revenge In Paris, or as I’ve come to think of it as RIP, is the first in a Noir Travel short story series and is free at all ebook stores. Voilà, the second is available the week of October 23rd, titled Portland Prey and a third is on the way. You’ll want to start at the beginning of this adventure though and follow through in sequence. What an incredible setting the author chose, and Valerie Brooks knows Paris very well. Her descriptions of the city and its varied sights are truly pictures in your mind and you get a sense for the places as if you’ve been there yourself. As an incredible bonus, at the end of the story she’s provided us with so much information about Paris, and links to many sites where you can learn even more.

Valerie is certainly a writer of 5-star Noir. Other beautiful writing by her has appeared in Scent of Cedars: Promising Writers of the Pacific Northwest, and also in France, A Love Story. She’s served on the board of directors for Oregon Writers Colony, and she co-founded the acclaimed Willamette Writers Speakers Series.

You’ll be glad you tagged along on this exciting trip to Paris at New Years in Revenge In Paris. The author treats you to a strong, intelligent, gutsy woman who writes her own rules and throws herself into a dangerous situation of her own creation. As has been said, “well-behaved women seldom make history” – or good novels.

And if you want to find out more from the author herself, here’s the link to Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Valerie Brooks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_VWnNCPL7M 

Win A Kindle With Your Book Recommendation

Your Book Recommendation is your Raffle Ticket to win a Kindle

             

Friends of the Edmonds Library Presents:

And the recommendation goes to . . . . .

Write a book recommendation

Email book recommendations to edmondslibfriends@gmail.com OR hand in your written book recommendation at the Edmonds Library between October 1^st and October 27^th

Age Categories are:  13 and under / 14 – 21 / over 21

Kindles will be given to 3 lucky raffle winners who also earn free help to setup their device and learn about ebooks from Sno-Isle Libraries staff.

Prizes:

Kindle winners will be announced at the Friends Annual Book Sale at noon October 28^th in the Frances Anderson Center

Winners’ recommendations will be published on My Edmonds News

All book recommendations will be displayed on Edmonds Library website and social media

Three recommenders of mystery books will be invited to read their recommendations on the Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries Podcast (YouTube, iTunes, Sound Cloud and KBFG radio)

Thank you sponsors:  Friends of the Edmonds Library, Symetra, and Marsh and McLennan Companies