A Work Of Love by Connie Connally

The Songs We Hide

By Connie Hampton Connally

               

                What we play for the world are the songs that the world wants to hear from us. The music that shapes the soul and reveals who we really are, those are The Songs We Hide, lovingly written about by Connie Hampton Connally.

                Evoking stunning emotions, this author conducts a magnum opus of incredibly beautiful historical fiction. Her writing brings to life the people of stark, brutal, 1951 Hungary. Katalin and Peter are young adults and upon their shoulders they bear the brunt of post World War II, where survival is made so much more difficult by the brutal regime suffocating freedoms. As Katalin realizes, “during the war she had held out hope, because some day the war would end. Now the war was over, but what was there to hope for?”

                Katalin was singing a wonderful duet with vibrant Robert, ‘Caro Mio Ben’, ‘My Dear Beloved’.  Now the same notes pained her to the core, as a loving single mother of her one year old daughter, whose father had suddenly disappeared. The government and secret police made terrifying disappearances common place. Robert hadn’t even known he was going to be a father, and she had no idea which one of the too many horrifying places he was held. That’s if he was still alive.

                Peter’s family had been rocked by the travesties of war, and then “The Collective” had confiscated what little their hard work had been able to achieve. They lived under the constant threat not only of starvation, but of their family’s separation and loneliness. Peter and his brothers had lost their mother, and their weary father had to try and carry on with his broken heart. Peter shyly sings his songs quietly to the beloved horse who works with them on what’s left of their beloved family farm. But they can’t make a living any longer on the farm alone. Peter must go to work in the city, where he meets Katalin who is waiting, for her beloved Robert. The lives of Katalin, Peter, and the people around them in this story will deepen the reverberating drum beat of your heart.

                The author, Connie Hampton Connally, became interested in Hungary’s turbulent history from her love of music. Through music she was inspired by the story of Zoltán Kodály, a twentieth-century Hungarian composer who spread music in his nation despite totalitarianism and two world wars. This author writes such memorable turns to a phrase, and such noteworthy descriptions that range the full spectrum of human emotions from despair through hope. In The Songs We Hide she’s composed a stirring tribute to the incredible strength of people, in a brutal time in Hungarian history, and the desperate need to create hope. As the crescendo builds, the reader will wonder, and hope – Can people withstand, can they be stronger than the hatred and betrayal surrounding them?

Matching Wits With the Devil of Delphi

Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Mystery Series

By Jeffrey Siger

                “The shooter was a pro. . . . You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and only by the grace of God didn’t end up with a bullet in your brain.” All is not sunshine and beauty in the Greek Isles and in present-day Athens. Central Police Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis and his team are kept busy, especially in this seventh book in the series as they match wits to solve the mystery driven by the Devil of Delphi, and those who have made a deal with the devil.

                The legitimate world market is threatened with a flood of counterfeit, sometimes deadly alcohol. When some consumers suffer fatal consequences because of poisons included in the “bomba”, it catches police attention. When a member of one of Greece’s richest and most feared families is dramatically shot dead, political pressure is sudden, intense and vicious that the police solve the case. Chief Inspector is under the gun in this exciting police procedural. They are up against a fearless crime syndicate that’s driven by an unquestioned ruler. Her followers call her Teacher, and she is now the one who enforces the cardinal principle of those who had enslaved her in her younger life:  Do as I say or die.

                 This author, Jeffrey Siger, writes incredibly interesting and complex characters. You learn so much about the incidents in their lives that shape their actions and the impacts those actions have on so many others.  He shows how his villainous characters live their lives through their own sort of moral code that they’ve twisted from their personal histories. Their correlating actions show the reader a darker side. One of the assassins, known by his chosen name of Kharon, demonstrates his penchant for the way he takes out his targets. He “preferred the up close, personal approach to ending a life, one that allowed him the opportunity of affording a potential victim a reasoned means for survival.” Just as interesting are the personalities and motivations of the Chief and his team’s members.

                Jeffrey Siger is a Pittsburgh native and former Wall Street lawyer and name partner in his own New York City law firm to write mystery thrillers that tell more than just a fast-paced story. His novels explore serious societal issues confronting modern day Greece, and still touching on the country’s ancient roots and gloriously picturesque setting. I recommend the series; the ninth is now available, An Aegean April.

                And if you want to hear more from the author listen on YouTube to Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Jeffrey Siger

Now You Know - Fast Falls the Night by Julia Keller

  Prosecutor Bell Elkins soon realizes that her Appalachian hometown is facing a tragically fatal challenge fighting a single day’s record number of heroin overdoses from a batch tainted with a lethal tranquilizer as Fast Falls the Night. This is the most recent in the enthralling mystery series by Pulitzer Prize winner and author Julia Keller.

                The first overdose murder comes right after midnight, followed by many more before the full day ends. The Police and Prosecutor work desperately to track down who is selling the bad batch of drugs. It’s most disturbing that this novel is based on a real life event. The author tells this story through the perspectives of the different victims and also other people in the small town of Acker’s Gap in West Virginia. The reader then gets an understanding of what brings people to the brink of tragedy, and also the impacts that one person’s actions can have on so many different people.

                While Bell Elkins is feverishly working with the police, she’s also facing some dark family issues surprisingly uncovered, that is undeniably life altering. It’s one thing to deal professionally with unspoken tragic events that affect others, but how will Bell deal with it when she’s confronted with buried emotions and acts within her own personal history?

                The author, Julia Keller, spent twelve years as a reporter and editor for the Chicago Tribune. It was during that time that she won the Pulitzer for Journalism. As the Chicago Tribune described – “. . . for a gripping, meticulously reconstructed account of a deadly 10-second tornado that ripped through Utica, Illinois.” What struck me immediately by these articles she wrote in 2004 was how she puts the reader so completely into the setting and scene of the storm, through every sense including desperation/fear, but the focus was how she made the stories about the people – their stories and the impact on their lives. It’s so much like her writing in her books. So often in mysteries it’s the acts that are the focus, but she puts the characters in the forefront. In Fast Falls the Night each chapter heading is a character, and each is written from their different points of view. The reader really gets to walk a few steps in these characters shoes, and that elicits a glimmer of understanding.

                And if you want to hear more from the author listen to Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Julia Keller

The New Noir

Dead Soon Enough

By Steph Cha

                The Juniper Song book series is written with a contemporary twist that adds dimension to the shadows inherent in a noir mystery story, while still paying homage to the great authors who created a masterful body of works in the genre’s beginnings. This newest book has a case that is a fast paced read. You’ll be intrigued as Private Investigator Juniper Song finds a victim could be found Dead Soon Enough.

                Steph Cha writes what she describes as Korean-American feminist noir. I’d add that her Private Investigator novels are mystery filled with thrills. These situations and characters appeal to a broad audience regardless of gender or background. Her books are spiced with thought provoking references to Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, and then transcend that epic to make this urban noir her own. Treat yourself to a real action packed PI series with titles Follow Her Home, Beware Beware, and Dead Soon Enough.

                In this third book of the series the case concerns the mystery of a woman’s disappearance and the experiences of the Armenian-American community in Los Angeles. The search for the missing woman uncovers her activist embroiled efforts in an ugly and public battle over the erection of an Armenian genocide memorial. While handling the sinister side of Los Angeles, other issues with the client bring up questions surrounding surrogate pregnancy. The investigation also tests Juniper Song’s satisfaction with her noir lifestyle.

                This author creates a cast of characters who are all intriguing and fascinating. You really don’t know what they will do next, and the emotions that drive them are described intently and bring a meaningful dimension to the story. We all have beliefs and causes and people that we believe in, and this book explores what people will do for those. What extremes will their actions reach? In the work of this author, she writes so sincerely about raw, human emotion that will have you on the edge of your chair. That creates a fun adventure to read and also presents memorable and haunting ideas.

                And if you want to hear more from the author listen to Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Steph Cha

Author K. J. Howe and The Freedom Broker

The Freedom Broker

By K. J. Howe

                Thea Paris is The Freedom Broker in K.J. Howe’s new kidnap-and-ransom thriller novel. Ripped from the headlines, this evil crime of kidnapping has become a dark, international financial exploitation. The protagonist in this fast-paced, forceful novel is one of the good guys who fight for captured victims. In addition to incredible actions scenes, and tense strategic maneuvering, this novel reveals the physical and mental injuries inflicted on kidnapping on the victim, as well as their family and friends. The story emphasizes the harrowing fears of death, of suffering, of helplessness, and even more deeply engrained intangibles.

                Jump straight into action right from page one, as Thea Paris and her team are dropped into Nigeria at night on a clandestine mission to free kidnapped petroleum engineer worker in a camp where he is held captive for a three million dollar ransom. As is noted, danger is everywhere on these missions, “If the mission failed, no one would retrieve her body. She’d be left to rot in the jungle unidentified and forgotten.” High stakes for all involved. And this is just the beginning of this story.

                Thea Paris vowed to become The Freedom Broker after her brother, twelve years old at the time, had been kidnapped and returned many months later. The impact of this abduction left lasting scars on her brother Nikos and his family and friends. The tragedy altered lives, just look at how it impacted Thea’s choice in her adult lifetime work.

                Now Thea and her family have no idea what lies ahead. Ironically Thea can’t stop the dramatic kidnapping of her father, Christos Paris on the verge of his sixtieth birthday. Now the time is ticking to try to find him and to try and save him, if he isn’t already dead. The author creates a suspect rich story for the reader to ponder.

                Author K. J. Howe is a three time Daphne du Maurier writing award winner and is the Executive Director of ThrillerFest, the annual conference of International Thriller Writers. She enjoys travel very much, and treats her readers to some incredible and exotic destinations as settings in her book. She became fascinated by the kidnap-and-ransom world after meeting Peter Moore, a British computer consultant who became the longest-held hostage in Iraq and the only person to survive of the five men who were taken on that day. Reading through the acknowledgements for her book you’ll see how very well researched this fictional thriller is.

                Join Thea Paris and her team as they fight in dire situations to save kidnap victims from dangerous, diabolical schemers. It’s a glimpse into what can happen in our real world.

And watch for Thea Paris' next adventure in Skyjack available April 10th.

And to hear more from the author, catch Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with K. J. Howe

               

Keenan Powell's Deadly Solution Is A Hit

Deadly Solution
A Maeve Malloy Mystery

By Keenan Powell

               

                                The reading jury has spoken resoundingly in favor of Legal Thriller Deadly Solution and its Alaskan Attorney Maeve Malloy. Author Keenan Powell has created a stunning force in her Maeve Malloy character. Danger is ever present as Malloy uncovers powerful players’ secrets and the sinister someone who’s executing a Deadly Solution.

                It’s bigger than life when you head to Alaska, especially the mystery around the Deadly Solution by Keenan Powell. This is no small snowball scuffle, these characters are fighting for survival in an avalanche of troubles, and at the bottom of it all is murder. As in so many cities across America, Anchorage tries to help homeless people and to stop homelessness. Now it seems that someone has found a deadly solution.

                From the very beginning, this legal thriller finds both the accused and his lawyer, struggling through fierce personal storms. Perhaps that’s a reflection of the Alaskan backdrop, where the environment is extreme and inhabitants are wild.

                Lawyer and client will need to find a way to pull together. While fighting her demons, skilled attorney Maeve Malloy is analyzing and uncovering surprising motives and hidden agendas. Danger is ever present as she approaches the secrets of powerful players.

                Working as Private Investigator on Maeve’s cases is tall, intense Tom Sinclair who follows through on clues and uncovers witnesses from surprising and also unsavory places. He’s been behind her every step, both before and after her controversial decision to leave the public defender’s office, and as she set up her own practice. During the course of this investigation, even his loyalty is tested. Will it break?

                And after the mystery investigation, look forward to compelling courtroom scenes. Author Keenan Powell has created a stunning, powerful force in her Maeve Malloy character. Maeve scouts a trail through the justice system for clients and readers who yearn for truth. “The truth is what people believe it to be. The justice system doesn’t deal in truths, it deals in evidence. The truth doesn’t always leave evidence behind.” Maeve knows she has to “prove it,” and that will be the challenge of her lifetime.

                The author writes persuasively and from different perspectives about timely social topics, giving the reader a thought-provoking thriller that lingers long after the last page is turned. Keenan Powell is a practicing attorney in Anchorage, Alaska. She also has stories published in these anthologies:  Mystery Most Historical; Busted! Arresting Stories from the Beat; and Snowbound. The reading jury has spoken resoundingly in favor of Deadly Solution and Maeve Malloy – we can’t wait to read her next case.

Stuart Gibbs Writes Great Mysteries For Kids

Book Recommendations by Wendy Kendall, Anna Foy, Sofia Solano, Michael Klug

Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Swindle by Gordon Korman

               

                At the prompting of a book recommendation shared at the Friends of the Edmonds Library Kindle Raffle last fall, I discovered a wonderful kids’ mystery author – Stuart Gibbs. He is the New York Times bestselling author of four fast-paced, fun, and entertaining mystery series – Spy School, Fun Jungle, Moon Base Alpha, and Last Musketeer. As if that’s not enough, he’s also written the screenplays for movies like See Spot Run and Repli-Kate. He’s developed TV shows for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC, and Fox, and he’s researched capybaras (the world’s largest rodents).

                I recommend his well written mysteries, which truly spark the imagination and inspire a sense of adventure. His writing also fuels a respect and love for the beauty of nature and our world. But don’t listen just to me.

                Here are recommendations from local, Edmonds 6^th grade readers who recommend Stuart Gibbs’ books and also a couple of others’ mystery books . . . .

Anna Foy Recommends – Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

                Benjamin Ripley goes to a “science school,” but it is secretly a training school for smart and clever children who have potential to be spies.  Although Benjamin is very smart, he may not be as skilled as the other kids in the school.  He will have to prove to everyone else that he can be a spy.

               

                I recommend this book because it is funny, and enjoyable to read about Benjamin Ripley, and his surprising adventure.

               

                About the author, Stuart Gibbs has a wife and children.  He lives in Los Angeles.

Sofia Solano Recommends – The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

                The Westing Game is about 16 heirs that gather to hear the reading of Sam Westing’s Will.  The heirs are surprised to hear that one of them killed Sam Westing.  Westing wants the heirs to play a game that will reveal who the murderer is.  Who is the murderer?

                I recommend this book because it was a great story, characters and it’s so realistic.  I think people that like murder and mystery books will enjoy The Westing Game.

                About the author, Ellen Raskin wrote and illustrated over a dozen award-winning books for children and young adults in her lifetime.  Raskin was awarded the Newberry Medal for her book The Westing Game.

Michael Klug Recommends – Swindle by Gordon Korman

                A kid named Griffin Bing plans a sleepover in an abandoned house about to be demolished by morning, finds a rare Babe Ruth baseball card, hidden from the world until a mean collector named S. Wendell Palomino, tricks him out of the card. Griffin puts together a team of “friends” to get the card back. And Griffin Bing, “the man with the plan” won’t let it go without a fight.

                I recommend this book if you like a mysterious, funny, exciting, and almost impossible to stop reading book. Try the book Swindle and it might just be the right book for you.

                Gordon Korman is an excellent author with details and lots of excitement in his writing!

Thank you for the guest recommendations!

And for more information from author Stuart Gibbs, including his answers to questions from Anna, Sofia, and Michael, tune into YouTube Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Stuart Gibbs and friends