Jon Rankin: Running From the Sunrise Friday, Oct 27 2017 

debut and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:49 am

Lawyer-turned-author Jon Rankin debuts a hard-boiled detective thriller whose cover screams ‘noir’ in Running From the Sunrise.

Lloyd is a most unusual killer who is having a ‘systems failure.’ The book opens with a gut-wrenching scene as Lloyd, spurred on by a Sears ad for a tricylce, seeks out a young child riding a similar bike.

In almost slow motion, Rankin gives out details of the setting, the unhurried pace adding to the rising tension as the reader knows that Lloyd is about to blow this child away. “A perverse respectfulness compelled the demon within to acknowledge at the very last possible moment that it was about to take a human life.”

Marty Randolph is the PI who awakens after a pub crawl to find he’s slept with beautiful blonde whose name escapes him at that moment.
The same eloquence that charmed Jewely into Marty’s bed is Rankin’s own as the book, and this relationship, progresses.

When the paths of these two disparate men cross during a background check, Marty will turn to Jewely as his sounding board, and find she makes a darn good partner and may just be the life of his live.

But can she handle the nature of his dangerous business when it hits close to home? Can Marty?

A startling debut that readers will hope is the beginning of a series featuring the enigmatic, earthy detective.

 

Michelle Birkby: The House at Baker Street Wednesday, Oct 25 2017 

amateur sleuth and debut and great read and historical saga and mystery to die for and new series Auntie M Writes Crime 12:14 am

Former library assistant Michelle Birkby has long been a fan of the Conan Doyle stories and especially of his female characters, so it’s no surprise her debut, The House at Baker Street, concentrates on the giving those women their own stories to tell.

Shortlisted for Best Historical Crime Novel by the CWA, her story takes two beloved women, Mary Watson and Mrs. Hudson, and given them full-depth characterizations. Her fresh take on Mrs. Hudson, always so much more than just his housekeeper, pushed the action. After working with Sherlock Holmes and observing him at work, when he turns down a case, she and Mary Watson decide they will take it on themselves.

Laura Shirley is a society woman who is being blackmailed, but the two sleuths quickly discover she’s just one of a long list of women trying to preserve their reputations when women’s rights meant something entirely different that that phrase conjurs up now, and when a whiff of any impropriety, justified or not, could ruin a woman. Despite not demanding money, the blackmailer is ruining lives, and Mrs. Hudson, who’s voice is grand in this, determines she cannot abide the practice and sets out to stop him. When the women realize the depth of the tragic ends some of the women come to, their resolve deepens.

This feminist take on the classic detective investigation will see the two women using the Baker Street irregulars and even Irene Adler to follow clues to bring the perpretrator to justice. There are appearances by Holmes and Watson, and references to the Canon, but the story belongs to the women.

Original and entertaining, with a second book already set for next year.

 

New in Paperback: Grippando and Chance Sunday, Oct 22 2017 

Award winning novelist and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:19 am

Two NEW in Paperback:

James Grippando brings his Miami criminal defense lawyer his toughest case yet in Most Dangerous Place, when a woman stands trial for murdering the man who sexually assaulted her a decade ago. It’s a sad truth that one in four female college students will be sexually assaulted during her college years.

The master of legal thrillers blends a wild story with legal issues, when Jack’s high school friend, Keith Ingraham begs him to help Keeth’s wife Isabelle, arrested for conspiracy to murder her college rapist.

Jack readily agrees to represent his friend’s wife, known as Isa, but the tension rises when he starts to doubt his own client. Is Isa who she seems to be? With surprises hitting Jack as he tries to craft his case, readers will be shocked at the ending.

Inspired by a true case, Grippando wrote the book to bring awareness to the difficult road rape victims still travel.

Set during Prohibition New York, the investigating duo of former socialite Lola Woodby and her Swedish cook, Berta, have set up shop in Lola’s dead husband’s bolthole–or would secret love nest be more accurate?

But setting up a new business in these dicey times isn’t easy, and they take what cases they can. The Discreet Retrieval Agency promises no job is too trivial, so when Sophronia Whiddle appears at their door, requesting what seems an easy job, one look at their bank account has the two heading to the health farm where Grace Whiddle is staying.

Their goal is to retrieve Grace’s dairy so any compromising information would not come to light as she is to be married shortly to a senator’s son. The promise of their $500 fee once the diary is delivered is a healthy inducement, despite Lola’s misgivings.

There are several catches: this health farm is run by Lola’s brother-in-law, for a start; Lola doesn’t want her mother to know of her work. Things quickly go from bad to worse when Grace leaves, along with her diary, after her future mother-in-law is found murdered on the grounds. Soon the ladies have a new client and new case: to find the murderer. There will be more death, a tie in with history, and the breakup of the agency before it’s all sorted.

Chance’s love of all things vintage shines through, with a nice dollop of humor.

 

M. C. Beaton: The Witches’ Tree Saturday, Oct 14 2017 

Award winning novelist and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:47 am

Beaton celebrates the 25th anniversary of her popular Agatha Raisin series with The Witches’ Tree, where Agatha gets to sink her teeth into a new case.

This one smacks of more than lost cats when the new vicar and his wife, driving home from a dinner party in Sumpton Harcourt when their headlights pick out the dangling body of a murdered woman, hanging from a tree.

Who murdered Margaret Darby, and what could the elderly spinster possibly have done to warrant such an action?

Readers will be treated to the delightful banter between Agatha and Sir Charles, hints of romances, and more dark offerings to follow as a witches’ coven is involved–and don’t forget the pair of trust-fund siblings Agatha comes across.

The absurb lives alongside the rational as usual. Fans will eat it up. The series has been made for British Television and some PBS channels as well as Acors TV will carry it here.

 

Jeffrey B Burton: The Eulogist Wednesday, Oct 11 2017 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and thriller Auntie M Writes Crime 12:36 am

FBI Special Agent Drew Cady is in Minneapolis in a boriing but safe job for him in The Eulogist. Sent to Washington DC to testify on more boring stuff, he is seconded to the investigation into the stabbing death of Senator Taylor Brockman.

He will be assisted by Special Agent Elizabeth Preston, whose black belt and smarts make Liz an able partner.

They quickly establish a link between this murder and a similar stabbing death, that of a privileged youth-turned-drug trafficker whom Brockman pardoned when serving as Governor of Virginia.

Burton has added a most unusual premise: what happens when a murderer leaves eulogies with each body? These two deaths are just the beginning of the killings of a man known as The Canadian. Scenes in Toronto and Minneapolis add to the frenetic pacing.

There will be hackers and those eulogy notes from what turns out to be a hired assasin before Cady and Preston unravel the complex plot. With difficulty obtaining evidence from the families, it soon appears the Eulogist’s notes may offer the best clues they have.

A thriller with action scenes, Cady is a hero with old-fashioned sensibiities thrust into a thoroughly modern world. An exciting read.

 

Will Thomas: Old Scores Sunday, Oct 8 2017 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and historical saga and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:28 am

Will Thomas’ historical series featuring private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his right-hand assistant, Thomas Llewelyn returns with an intricately-plotted mystery, Old Scores.

It’s 1890 and things are becoming modernized when a Japanese delegation, in England to form a new embassy, arrive to visit Barker’s own Japanese garden along with the new ambassador. The team he arrives with are varied, and Llewelyn fancies that Barker recognizes one of the men.

When the ambassador is shot that same evening, Barker is found across the street and immediately arrested, although that doesn’t last long. Despite the Foreign Branch subjecting him to a more than necessary interrogation, his lawyer manages to procure his release. At the behest of the new ambassador, Barker and Llewelyn undertake an investigation to find the real murderer.

This time readers learn more of Barker’s past and his time in Japan, as well as the cultural overtones of the political situation of the era. There are personal details that come with personal revelations. Authentic period details spring off the page and speak to Thomas’ research. Llewelyn’s own situation comes into play, as does the ward Barker keeps an eye on, now married.

It’s a complex unraveling they must undertake, chock full of sly humor and a bit of suspense in a most atmospheric London.

 

Lois Winston: Scrapbook of Murder Thursday, Oct 5 2017 

Award winning novelist and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:36 am

Please welcome Lois Winston, a very busy woman who has more irons in the fire than Auntie M can count! She’s here today to talk to us about her new release, Scrapbook of Murder:


Authors are often advised to write what we know, but that advice can become problematic for those of us who write about murder and mayhem. Unless our day jobs involve working in criminal justice, we don’t usually have firsthand experience with the seamier side of humanity. Have you ever met a killer? Most people haven’t.

Without exception, every plot and subplot I’ve included in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries springs from actual events I’ve read about in the news. I keep a binder of news clippings that grows bigger by the day. Sometimes the plot or subplot will closely follow an actual crime. Other times a story—whether criminal or human interest—becomes the spark that lights my “what if” fuse.

Usually the news stories are ones that take place throughout the country. I read about them in one of the two daily newspapers or the weekly news magazine I subscribe to, or I’ll see a story on the evening news.

However, in Scrapbook of Murder, the latest book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, the main subplot in the book is taken directly from a mystery that’s been unfolding in my own town for several years. It’s such a weird mystery that it’s made national headlines. Lifetime has even aired a made-for-television movie about it already. I’m talking about The Watcher house. Ever hear of it? If not, you can read about it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/24/the-watcher-house-home-letters-westfield_n_7656620.html

In Scrapbook of Murder, The Watcher becomes The Sentinel, and he’s stalking the couple that bought the home Anastasia’s friend and her husband recently sold. As in real life, the new homeowners have filed a lawsuit against the former owners, claiming they knew about The Sentinel prior to the sale. Since the police have yet to solve this nonfiction mystery, I’ve been able to solve it—or rather, Anastasia has solved it—in Scrapbook of Murder.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if my fictitious solution turns out to be what really happened? Cue the Twilight Zone music…

Scrapbook of Murder
An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 6

Crafts and murder don’t normally go hand-in-hand, but normal deserted craft editor Anastasia Pollack’s world nearly a year ago. Now, tripping over dead bodies seems to be the “new normal” for this reluctant amateur sleuth.

When the daughter of a murdered neighbor asks Anastasia to create a family scrapbook from old photographs and memorabilia discovered in a battered suitcase, she agrees—not only out of friendship but also from a sense of guilt over the older woman’s death. However, as Anastasia begins sorting through the contents of the suitcase, she discovers a letter revealing a fifty-year-old secret, one that unearths a long-buried scandal and unleashes a killer. Suddenly Anastasia is back in sleuthing mode as she races to prevent a suitcase full of trouble from leading to more deaths.

Buy Links:
Kindle http://amzn.to/2ffIMgy
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/scrapbook-of-murder
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/scrapbook-of-murder/id1286758416?mt=11
Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scrapbook-of-murder-lois-winston/1127145157?ean=2940158851896
Paperback http://amzn.to/2y2Omhl

Bio:
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

Website: http://www.loiswinston.com
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/anasleuth
Twitter at https://twitter.com/Anasleuth
Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5

 

Pat Hale:The Church of the Holy Child Wednesday, Oct 4 2017 

Uncategorized Auntie M Writes Crime 12:11 am

From Fearful to Fearless: The Path of Self-Promotion

The Gesture of No Fear

Okay so in truth, I haven’t quite made it to the fearless end of the path. In fact, I’m just starting out, but I’ve already learned a few things and I’ll share what I know so far.

My new book, The Church of the Holy Child, was released on September 25th. Exciting, right? Yes, very. After all the writes and re-writes, there it was in print, in my hand. The only drawback . . . with release, comes promotion.

It’s both a blessing and a curse to publish with a small press. Because my publisher is small, communication is excellent. If I have questions, I get answers within hours. I have plenty of say when it comes to editing and the cover art and the process in general. Working with a small press is like being part of a family.

The downside? I’m responsible for much of the book’s promotion. For some people, getting out in the public eye and selling yourself as well as your book is a piece of cake. But I have a hunch I’m not alone when the mere thought of self-promotion puts my heart in overdrive and my stomach simulating the twists and turns of Space Mountain.

Fast forward to the C3 Conference I attended in Maryland a couple of weeks ago where I was scheduled to take part in four panels and moderate one. (Obviously, the scheduling was out of my control.) And since my publisher, Intrigue Publishing, put on the conference, I couldn’t very well back out. It was a great opportunity to get myself and my book noticed. The panels were only forty-five minutes long. I could do anything for forty-five minutes. At least that became my mantra for the weeks prior to the conference.

But what happened when I sat on my first ever panel surprised me. My fellow panel members were all a little nervous (even the bigger names). They joked about it, were kind and supportive and I felt like one of them instead of the new kid. The most surprising thing of all was that the panel and the audience were interested in what I had to say. And I answered the moderator’s questions with ease because I knew better than anyone about my writing process and why my characters did what they did. And somewhere in the midst of it all I realized I was having fun and that my heart had settled back to its normal beat.

On the last panel of the last day, Jeff Markowitz, a wonderful writer who I can now call my friend, said to the audience. “You just have to go out there every day and be fearless.”

That’s the mantra I’ve taken away from the C3 conference along with new friends and contacts and a little more confidence than I had when I got there. Most writers are quiet people, introverts. And the idea of self-promotion can bring on overwhelming anxiety. But what you tell yourself really does matter.

Remember, you are the expert on your work. You can do anything for forty-five minutes. As my grandmother always said, “Tell ‘em who you are.” And above all, be fearless.

http://www.patriciahale.org

http://facebook.com/patricia.hale.102

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/patricia-hale

 

Juliana Grey: A Most Extraordinary Pursuit & A Strange Scottish Shore Tuesday, Oct 3 2017 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and historical saga and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:35 am

Juliana Gray debuted her series last year with A Most Extraordinary Pursuit, featuring Emmeline Truelove, private secretary to the Duke of Olympia, a position her father held before her.

After an intriguing prologue set in contemporary times, the book goes back to Edwardian times. It’s 1906 when the Duke dies in a fishing accident, and Truelove suddenly finds herself, against her better judgement and that of the ghost of the Queen who advises against it, on her way to find the Duke’s heir.

Only the heir is missing from Crete, where he’s been uncovering archeological treasures, and Truelove is sent packing off that same night as the funeral to travel by the Duke’s private yacht. Her travel companion, friend of the missing Arthur Maximillian Haywood, is none other than the cad Lord Silverton, who had the temerity to introduce himself to Truelove earlier as Freddie.

This young woman is a paragon of virtue for several reasons, and is Freddie’s attentions as the trip progresses to Crete. Once there, they will face ransacked rooms, murders and more following Max’s trail to a surprising conclusion, one that includes facets of the paranormal. It will end with Truelove’s new position and some hanging details that carry over.

After the novella, The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match, Gray returns with this year’s entry in the series, A Strange Scottish Shore. The new Duke and Truelove travel to the Orkney Islands, a remote destination off Scotland’s coast, to investigate a strange find in an ancient castle.

The artifact is supposed to be the the skin of a selkie, a being who rose from the sea and supposedly married the castle’s first laird. Silverton makes his appearance in a most unusual way, as does a stalker for Truelove. It’s a complex plot of time travel and fighting foes, and with Max’s special talent coming into play. The banter from Silverton and Truelove continues and deepens.

The series, with its mix of historical mystery, fantasy, time travel and romance will interest many readers for that very reason. This one highlights the time travel. Perfect for Outlander fans.