Sarah Ward: A Patient Fury Thursday, Nov 9 2017 

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

Sarah Ward’s third DC Childs Mystery, A Patient Fury,returns with a strong entry in the series. Just returned from six months’ sick leave after the events of A Deadly Thaw, DI Sadler wakes her with the news of a crime scene to attend with them.

There’s been a house fire at Cross Farm Lane, outside Bampton, and a family of three died inside: older father, younger mother and young son, the result of likely arson. But one thing sets this far apart. Dangling from the stairwell window is a hanging body.

A double murder-suicide is the likely assumption. But as Connie and Sadler investigate, aided by the rest of their team, they will have differing opinions on who set the fire and who was the murderer.

Peter Winson had married the much-younger Italian Francesca after meeting at work. His grown children from his marriage, Julia and George, quickly come under scrutiny. Was their jealousy involved that could have led to murder of all three?

As Connie and Sadler soon find out, the older siblings couldn’t be farther apart in personality. And that’s not all that makes this an unusual case: Elizabeth Winson, Peter’s frist wife, disappeared in 1980 and was never seen again. In fact, even without a body, she’s been declared dead.

This adds a dimension to the case that finds the team searching for the fourth body that was never found.

Ward does a good job of mixing the differing styles of detecting with the personal issues of the team, but she and Sadler are the focus. The setting rings true, but the ending will leave readers surprised with that one final twist they probably didn’t see coming. A solid procedural and a fine entry in the series.

 

Jay Kristoff: Godsgrave Sunday, Nov 5 2017 

Award winning novelist and Continued series winner and historical saga Auntie M Writes Crime 12:30 am

Jay Kristoff returns with assassin Mia Corvere in her quest for revenge in Godsgrave in a series that has made his name among teen readers.

This fantasy series uses a mix of ancient and horrific to mesmerize readers, often brutal, sometimes sensual.

Mia is with the Red Church ministry, going about her brutal business, but she still yearns to avenge her family and murder her enemies.

One of the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, she finds her nemeses, Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo will be at the conclusion of the games in Godsgrave. She will sell herself to a for the chance to end them.

But she will find amongst new friends and rival that there are conspiracies she never expected. As the body’s mount, Mia will discover a secret that changes everything.

This is Book Two of Kristoff’s Nevernight Chronicle, a spine-chilling series with touches of magic interwoven with the fantastic elements that make it an epic tale.

 

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

 

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.

 

Ashley Weaver: The Essence of Malice Saturday, Sep 30 2017 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and historical saga and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:48 am

Ashley Weaver’s series set in the time of Nick and Nora Charles returns with the 4th entry, The Essence of Malice, that starts with Amory receiving the gift of a new perfume, Shazadi, a heady gardenia and sensual scent, and scents will overlay the entire story.

Readers have become engaged with Amory Ames and her somewhat rakish husband Milo. The upper classes shine brightly, filled with glamour, as Amory finds out more than she ever wanted to know about the world of perfumers. Of course, her maid, Winnelda, and Milo’s valet, Parks, are on hand to smooth their travels.

After Milo receives a letter from his childhood nanny, he convinces Amory to travel from the lovely Lake Como in Italy with him to Paris to see Madame Nanette. Her wealthy employer, a premiere parfumier, has died just as his newest perfume is to be released, and the nanny feels that Helio Belanger’s death, after a plane accident the day before that he walked away from, apparently unhurt, was not natural. Belanger was a beau of Nanette 30 years before and she had consented to be a nanny to his young child with his second wife.

Amory and Milo become wrapped up in the unhappy family and the perfume industry as they investigate what really happened to Belanger, which has a heavy share of rivals, as well as family members who want to control the empire he built. Amory learns about creating new perfumes, layering scents, and that Belanger has three grown children as well as that new wife, all of whom live together, all suspsects vying for control of his business.

This is chock-full of snappy dialgue, romantic tension, lies and secret, all wrapped up in a darn good mystery. Add in the world of perfumers and you’ll learn while you deduct.

My favorite in the series to date, with a surprising ending.

 

New Fall Thrillers: Bleeker, Chapman, Johns, Rickstad, Keller Sunday, Sep 24 2017 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:51 am

Auntie M has gathered new thrillers to add delight to your fall reading. What these have in common is fast pacing and twisted plots. Enjoy!

Emily Bleeker’s Working Fire takes readers to the Midwest, where Ellie Brown has returned from her ticket out of Illinois–med school–to care for her father after he suffers a stroke. Her job as a paramedic is not as interesting as she’s thought it would be, but at least she sees her sister, Amelia, and enjoys dinner with her sister’s husband, Steve, and their two girls.

The book opens with a punch, with Ellie and her partner, Chet, getting an unbelieveable call: it’s Amelia’s address and there are reported gunshots. That’s just the beginning of a story is told from Ellie’s point of view in the present, with action from six weeks ago in Amelia’s point of view.

This alternating style allows readers to see both sisters, who have a tight relationship, as individuals. There are secrets here being kept, which adds to the emotional tension. What really happened inside Amelia’s house that led to the shooting?

As Amelia’s life hangs in the balance, Ellie will try to find whom she can really trust, which turns out to be a very complicated situation. One final ending twist is totally unexpected.

Tim Chapman’s background as a forensic scientist gives him the gravitas he needs for his protagonist, Sean McKinney in The Blue Silence. The Chicago scientist with an interest in Tai Chi has a huge hole in his heart at the moment.

Sean’s a widower with a large dog, Hendrix, whose daughter is newly away at college. A recent breakup from his girlfriend leads Sean to accept when Angelina begs him to look into the disappearance of her roomate’s twin sister.

Sean soon finds himself at Tulane in New Orleans, getting more than he bargained for when he and his dog, Hendrix, reach Angelina, and her friend, Madeleine. Sean meets the twins parents, too, but it soon becomes more than complicated on the hunt for Sylvie.

There will be a hint of romance for Sean, intrigue in the art world, a hidden diary, and Hendrix and Angelina in jeopardy before it’s all over. A satisfying thriller and hopefully the first of a series featuring the forensic expert.


Readers can go from New Orleans to Baton Rouge in Roger Johns’ Dark River Rising.

Wallace Hartman is a police detective who heads this new series. Saddled with her partner on medical leave and missing his advice, Wallace is nevertheless quickly immersed in the scene of a grisly murder. It’s evident the drug dealer victim was tortured before being killed and left in a most horrific manner that captures attention immediately.

Wallace grudgingly accepts DEA agent Mason Cunningham’s help as they agree he needs her local knowledge and she needs his resources, especially after a scientist tied to the first victim disappears. She will meet the Staples family, whose have a personal motive for wanting revenge on the drug dealer, but that’s just the start of the investigation.

This is a compelling police procedural with enough action and twists, plus a hint of romance to keep the pages flipping. A good hard look at the dark underbelly of Baton Rouge with a compelling new protagonist.


The sequel to Eeric Rickstad’s The Silent Girls heats up quickly. The Names of Dead Girls takes readers to rural Vermont in the expert company of detectives Sonja Test and Frank Rath and their team.

It starts out with the cliffhanger of the first book, when Rath’s nemesis, Ned Preacher is paroled early and is watching Rath’s niece, Rachel, whom Rath has raised after Preacher murdered his sister and her husband.

After protecting Rachel for years, she’s just found out the truth of her parentage. Then several local girls go missing and when their bodies are found, it’s too much of a coincidence for Rath to feel that anyone but Preacher is to blame.

Preacher’s style is to terrorize Rachel while he taunts Rath, and the detective’s investigation will take him into Montreal. This is dark and terrific suspense with great imagery that makes the setting a secondary character. Keep the lights on for this one.

Julia Keller’s series featuring prosecutor Bell Elkins and the rural area of Acker’s Gap, WV, continues with Fast Falls the Night.

It starts out with a death from an overdose and the suspense ratchets up quickly as they spread like wildifire. Bell finds herself and her team working at top speed to stop the wave as it escalates.

They race to find the heroin batch that’s been laced with a lethal tranquilizer, searching for the source as the overdoses mount and the bodies pile up. Bell will be fighting more than just the drug lords though, as some within the law enforcement community believe the addicts should be left to die.

Bell sees how the addicts actions affect more than themselves, but readers also have other perspectives from different points of view. There will be a hostage at one point, and also dark fammily secrets for Bell to be revealed before it’s all over.

All of the action takes place in a compressed 24-hr period, adding to the urgency and the swift pacing. Definitely a cliffhanger of an ending.

 

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