Stephen Leather: Light Touch Sunday, Aug 13 2017 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and Uncategorized Auntie M Writes Crime 12:23 am

The prolific Stephen Leather had two books out last week: the paperback version of Takedown, his stand-alone, and the newest Spider Shepherd thriller.

In Takedown, Charlotte Button, ex-MI-5, has been seen before in Leather’s series, and is now tasked with taking out a rogue Special Forces soldier. He’s already hatched one deadly plot. What she needs to do if figure out his next plan and stop him before he can act.

She has help in the form of Lex Harper, who assembles a team who are capable of stopping the rogue soldier before the massive attack they fear he’s planned. Readers of the Shepherd series will know Lex, and here they’ll see another side to him.

Having these two previously seen characters in their own book brings a fresh look to this kind of adventure-filled thriller.

While this is whirling, Charlotte finds that two of three flash drives, hidden in secret places, have been stolen. Containing information on dirty government operations from the past, their loss means her life is on the line if they can get to the third. Who is after her and why?

And while you’re investigating this one in case you missed it when it first came out, Light Touch brings Dan “Spider” Shepherd back with a tough case that is topical and swiftly paced.

MI5 send Spider in when one of their undercover operatives stops giving them information on a drug lord with international smuggling on his resume. Spider needs to find out if Lucy Kemp has shifted to the dark side in her dealings with Marcus Meyer.

It’s an intriguing and delicate situation, made all the more difficult when he finds an SAS assassin is planing revenge killings for his sister’s overdose. Only Spider can find and stop Matt STanding and conviince him there’s another way to deal with all of this–Spider’s way.

With a theme built around trust, this is a filled with action and twists, with little rest on the horizon.

Leather’s skills in action have been noted by the cinema world, too.

Two of Leather’s novels have been adapted for film: The Chinaman, one of Leather’s Mike Cramer series, has been made into the movie THE FOREIGNER which opens this fall starring Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan. TANGO ONE has been made with Vincent Regan and Sophie Colquhoun, directed by Ssacha Bennett, and is awaiting a release date.

 

Simon Toyne: The Boy Who Saw Friday, Aug 4 2017 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:07 am


Simon Toyne introduced Solomon Credd in The Searcher, the man whose identity is unknown except for a label stitched into his jacket: “This suit was made to treasure for Mr. Solomon Creed.”

It was a startling device for the new thriller series and in the sequel, Solomon decides he must track down the tailor who made the suit, believing he holds the key to his identity. With roots in the Holocaust, he’s traveled to France to find Josef Engel.

It’s a fool’s errand, when Solomon finds the man’s murdered body, a Star of David crudely carved into his chest, his body torn apart. The man’s granddaughter and her son remember the grandfather’s stories from the past, as well as tales of the man who saved them from the concentration camps.

The police suspect Solomon, that strange-looking pigment-free pale man in the murder. He must escape and find refuge with Marie-Claude, who is seeking her own refuge from an abusive husband, and her son, the adorable Leo.

If it wasn’t an interesting enough premise, Toyne ups the interest by having Leo and Solomon have something in common: a synesthesia, which in Solomon takes the form of smelling danger, while in Leo, allows him to see emotions as colors. It’s an intriguing and often useful element for Solomon, who’s been described as a genius high-functioning paranoid schizophrenic, one whose toxic memories have been removed by use of an implanted device in his shoulder.

The unlikely trio flees across France, avoiding Engel’s killer while still trying to solve his murder. Elements of the paranormal will keep you guessing if they are imagined or can be explained away. A rocking good ride.

 

Liz Mugavero: Cat About Town Wednesday, Aug 2 2017 

amateur sleuth and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:15 am

Cats and Cafes
by Cate Conte

What is it about cats and coffee that seems to go so well together?

It’s not just me who thinks that, even though it’s no secret those two things have a huge influence on my life. No, it’s actually a worldwide phenomenon, as evident when the first cat cafe opened in Japan in 1998.

For those who’ve never heard of a cat cafe, it’s a coffee shop, but with cats AND coffee. And pastries. And while you’re having your snack, you can hang out with a cat or two. The cats who live at the cafes come from local rescue organizations that partnered with the cafes. That means people can adopt them if they’d like.

Cat cafes are typically found in urban areas. They originated from the idea that people who couldn’t have cats could have a place to go and visit with them. And of course they need coffee (the humans, that is) so they can keep their energy up to play with the cats.

In recent years, cat cafes have migrated to the U.S. – New York, San Francisco, Boston to start, and now they’re popping up everywhere.

So of course, I had to put one on my island in Cat About Town.

Not your typical urban area, but since there’s lots of coffee on the island—and lots of cats—I think it’s going to work out just fine. As it turns out, Daybreak Island has only the local dog pound to care for any strays, ever since the local rescue closed its doors. So the cat cafe pro-vides a temporary home for the cats who would otherwise be locked in small cages at the pound, or worse, out on the street.

And, since the island attracts lots of tourists, it will never be short on visitors.

Especially with all the attention around the recent murder in town . . .

Cat About Town is out now, so grab a cup of coffee, find a cat to snuggle with at your local cat cafe, and enjoy!

Liz Mugavero writes the Pawsitively Organic Mysteries, the first of which was an Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel. The sixth book in the series, Purring Around the Christmas Tree, is out in October of this year. As Cate Conte, Liz also writes the Cat Cafe Mysteries, the first of which, Cat About Town, was released August 1. She lives in Connecticut with her rescue pals.

 

THE GOLDEN HOUR: A Nora Tierney English Mystery #4 Monday, Jul 31 2017 

amateur sleuth and Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 3:01 pm


THE GOLDEN HOUR is Auntie M’s 4th Nora Tierney English Mystery. It’s always exciting bringing out a new book, akin to birthing a baby. After the initial first draft, that lump of clay goes through multiple revisions: workshopping with colleagues to find the story; more revisions after beta readers chime in and point out areas that don’t make sense or need fixing; more rewrites after the “Britspeak” is corrected by wonderful UK friends. P D James told Auntie M years ago that “the real writing gets done in revision,” something she repeats to herself as a mantra when the going gets tough.

While the book tour isn’t until October into November, you can order trade paperbacks now on Amazon or through Bridle Path Press, and she recommends that latter if you’d like a signed copy! http://www.bridlepathpress.com.

Thanks to the talented Giordana Segneri who did the layout and that lovely domestic cover design; to Becky Brown, copyeditor; to Eagle Eye Pam Desloges; and to Beth Cole who did the Kindle files.

The book will be on Kindle later this week and this fall, in conjunctin with the tour, on Audible, with the wonderful British narrator, Nano Nagle, who’s done a wonderful job on the others in the series.

This one’s a bit different from her usual and Auntie M hopes you will enjoy it as much as Ausma Khan, Elly Griffiths and Sarah Ward, who all gave her cover blurbs. Great crime writers all, and she’s chuffed to have their names on her cover~

 

Fiona Barton: The Child Thursday, Jul 27 2017 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:40 am

Fiona Barton’s debut, The Widow, thrust her into the minds of readers everywhere and introduced reporter Kate Waters. She returns with The Child, and it’s every bit as suspensful and well written, sure to please readers with its compelling story.

Journalist Kate is a seasoned print reporter trying to stay afloat in a 24 hr/online news world. She’s saddled with a trainee, Joe Jackson, just as a small article catches her eye when construction workers in Woolrich discover the remains of baby, long-buried and reduced to bones.

Besides Kate, the discovery affects two women: Angela, whose baby Alice was stolen from her hospital cot the night after being born; and Emma, a young woman whose secret has affected her entire life. Emma’s mother, Jude, raised Emma as a single mother and has a complicated relationship with her daughter.

Angela is convinced the bones are of her baby, Alice. Emma is convinced of something entirely different. Kate just wants to find the truth of the matter and the answer to her question: “Who would bury a baby?”Each woman, with Kate’s help, will find the answers they need to know.

Kate can’t let this story go, to the detriment at times of her own family life. She sets out to investigate the old neighbors who lived in that neighborhood, and uncovers tales of drugs, parties, illicit sex and more. She encourages Angela and is with the woman when her DNA is tested. And through a circuitous route, she eventually meet Emma and Jude.

Complicating matters is the way Kate must tread carefully between her job as a reporter to get the lead on the news, and the police investigation. Her detective contact is one she holds dear, and she must keep his confidence and that of the lead detective looking into the identity of the remains, while holding her editor at bay.

Each woman’s story is precisely told in this character-driven mystery, a taut thriller that explores the complex relationships we all hold with our families, our jobs, and our perceived identities. The suspense as the story unfolds will keep readers flipping pages to the satisfying denouement. Highly recommended.

 

John Farrow: Perish the Day Sunday, Jul 23 2017 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:38 am

Author and playwright Trevor Ferguson writes the Emile Cinq-Mars series under the pen name John Farrow. He brings us Perish the Day, with Emile and his wife, Sandra, staying at her mother’s New Hampshire horse farm as the woman lies in a coma after a life well lived.

It’s raining hard in the small town of Holyoake, just down the road from Ivy League Dartmouth. Sandra’s niece is graduating from the big college’s stepchild, the Dowboggin School of International Relations, and along with Sandra’s sister, they plan to also attend Caroline’s graduation. The rain obscures roads, overflows rivers, and creates havoc that only intensifies when the body of one of Caro’s friends is found at the bottom of a locked clock tower.

Emile soon finds himself immersed in trying to find out what happened to Caro’s friend, Addie. Hers will be the first of three murders in short order, and as the case heats up, territorial disputes threaten to overwhelm the investigation, even as the weather interferes with everything.

He finds a way to insinuate himself, even as Sandra’s mother dies and they plan her funeral. Enlisting Caro and two of her friends, the retired Canadian detective will use his wits and his experience to find out who would kill a young student, an older professor, and a custodian at the college.

Only Emile could bring the disparate forces of troopers, local sheriff, and FBI together to solve a complicated case that is unlike any he’s seen before. It’s a tour de force of his thinking abilities.

One of the hallmarks of the series is Emile’s ruminations on the case, spirituality, life, and his marriage. It makes for involved and heady reading, a literary feel to what is essentially a crime novel. His feel for his setting, and how he uses it, deepen our understanding of where he finds himself at this moment in time. Despite his appearance, Emile Cinq-Mars is highly attractive and thoroughly engaging.

Another winner in a series that keep getting better. Highly recommended.

 

Mark Billingham: Die of Shame & Love Like Blood Wednesday, Jul 19 2017 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:06 am

Readers of Auntie M Writes know that Mark Billingham is one of her favorites. So it was frustrating that she’d missed reading Die of Shame, which starts out as a stand-alone featuring Detective Inspector Nicola Tanner and has a tie-in to Tom Thorn at its end.

It starts with six people, all addicts of some kind, in a group therapy session held by their therapist in his home. With his wife and teen daughter on the periphery, the six speak of their secrets and tell their stories of the life they’ve tried to leave. The object is to reveal their deepest shame.

It’s an intriguing setup, as each of these characters has something to hide. When one of them is murdered, it will fall to DI Tanner to ferret out the murderer. Readers will learn of the addict’s ability to obfuscate and explain away any situation. As Tanner’s investigation advances, it soon becomes clear that one of the six is responsible for the victim’s death.
That’s where Tom Thorne comes in at the end, working undercover as the newest member of the group.

While this one can definitely be read as a stand-alone, and it’s new in paperback for those like Auntie M who missed it last year, Billingham’s newest, Love Like Blood, follows the thread. Not with the group, which is tied up easily, but with DI Nicola Tanner as Thorne’s off-the-books newest partner.

It opens with a grissly home invasion that becomes a ghastly murder. At first, readers assume it Tanner who’s the victim, but although she was probably the proposed victim, Tanner’s partner Susan has borrowed her car that day and is brutally murdered in her stead.

Due to her closeness to the victim, policy dictates Tanner must be off the case. She enlists Thorne to take the case on, with her aiding him unofficially. When a young couple from different cultures go missing, they soon realize their targets are a pair of contracted killers, performing so-called ‘honor’ killings for families.

It’s a set-up that has nothing good about it. Thorne worming his way into a community where he’s despised just for being a cop; Tanner continuing to investigate when she shouldn’t. There’s Tom’s home with Helen and her son, Alfie, to consider, too, with Helen dealing with her own bad case.

A sobering Author’s note describes the statistics of increasing honor killings in the UK, and details one particular heartbreaking case. Leave it to Mark Billingham to sensitively explore this issue. Highly recommended, both of them. Do yourself a favor and read them both.

 

Rob Hart: The Woman from Prague Friday, Jul 14 2017 

Continued series winner and great read Auntie M Writes Crime 12:20 am

Rob Hart returns with PI Ash McKenna in The Woman from Prague., which is where he finds himself, laying low for the past months, but on a visa ready to run out.

This entertaining novel elevates the spy genre with Ash’s first person POV, the crisp dialogue, and Ash’s wry thoughts when he finds himself strong-armed into working for a supposed US agent who knows far too much about Ash and his background. But can “Roman” be trusted? And is he who he says he is?

Things quickly go south–did Auntie M mention there’s a woman involved? –as the meet Roman sets up turns deadly. Ash is forced to go on the run with the mysterious Samantha. Despite the lovely Sam in tow, Ash finds the role of an international spy is not all James Bond made it seem.

He’s in a foreign city, with someone he can’t trust, being hunted for reasons he can’t fathom.

Non-stop action gives readers a wild ride in a great setting. The fast pace makes this a perfect summer read.

 

Bill Schutt & JR Finch: The Himalayan Codex Wednesday, Jul 5 2017 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and thriller Auntie M Writes Crime 12:25 am

Action, adventure and science wrapped up together prove an explosive read in the second outing from this duo of Bill Schutt and JR Finch in The Himalayan Codex, the second book featuring zoologist RJ MacCready.

This time the adventure captain finds himself on searching the plateaus of Tibet for the legendary Yeti. For the post WWII era, 1946 is a time of rebuilding. MacCready heads to Tibet to examine mammoth bones that were recently discovered in the Himalayas.

Yeti may not exist, but a codex purportedly written by Pliny the Elder certainly does, giving rise to the theory of a new race of ancestral humans, whose presence gave rise to the stories of the Yetis, yet with one startling aspect–their ability to speed up evolution.

It’s a process that would bring with it benefits but also potential for devastation with no limits. Is this the truth? And if not, why would Communist Chinese among others be hunting him and his team?

There’s enough plausible science here with technical research to allow readers to suspend disbelief to enjoy the action-packed ride. A thorough author’s note gives a complete explanation on what is fictional, what is not, and just what might be possible.

 

Jan McCanless: A Touch of Humor from the Beryl’s Cove Mystery Author Friday, Jun 30 2017 

Continued series winner Auntie M Writes Crime 12:54 am

Just in time for Father’s Day: Jan McCanless, author of the Beryl’s Cove Mysteries, is known for her wit, and here’s her essay on her “new” inventions to lighten your day. Don’t miss her books, either, filled with the same humor, fun reading for all. Here’s Jan to bring a smile to your day:

I’ve just invented the neatest toy, it’s called a Hula Hoop!

How does the saying go, a day late and a dollar short? Describes my lifestyle to a ‘t.’ While I have never been accused of being lazy or slack, I have been known, sometimes, to be a wee bit slow to find out things. It only took me 15 years of owning my electric can opener to discover it was also a knife sharpener – – -who knew? I’ve owned a computer now for oh, about a dozen years, and this past weekend, I figured out how to use the printer – – – – I feel so empowered!

Having all this self confidence, and empowerment, I sat down and thought I would come up with a really peachy keen idea for a new toy. It’s a round, tube thingy, with a large hole in the middle, and you put it around your waist, wiggle your hips like you are doing the hula, and spin it all at the same time. I’ve dubbed it a Hula Hoop. I was very proud of my invention, until I applied for a patent, and what do you know? It’s already been invented, decades ago! Why didn’t somebody tell me?

All this slowed me down somewhat, but, never let it be said, I don’t have sticktoittiveness. I have come up with another great idea, this one even better than the Hula Hoop, and it takes less brain power. And, I can lay in my hammock while I enjoy it. I have always loved pets: dogs, cats, fish, rabbits, I love them all, and over the years have enjoyed the company of many animals. When we lost the last of our 4 cats, it coincided with some remodeling and redecorating we did, so, spouse and I decided that we would leave the pets to others. He’s getting too old for them anyway, but, there is a way to enjoy a pet without the mess and cleanup AND vet bills. It’s called a Pet Rock, and I have even made a box with holes in it to carry the pet rock around in. The holes are so it can breathe, doncha know.

I was so excited about my invention, I called the kids and told them about it. “What happens when the rock dies?” one of my smarter offspring asked. “Well then, I’ll invent the Pet Rock cemetery,” I told them. “Been done,” they offered. You know, I’m starting to resent all these patent people for their comeuppance; they obviously don’t know a genius idea when they see it.

I went back to my hammock, where I do my best “work”, and put my thinking cap on. I’m never at a loss for ideas, you see. In the meantime, one of my sons delivered a load of gravel for my garden, and, as he dumped it all in the yard for me, he shouted out that the pet rock I invented had ‘babies.’ I’m definitely going to have to speak to these kids about their attitude. In the meantime, I’m going to stick to writing, – – – -and my hammock.

There’s the old adage that says, what ‘goes around, comes around,’ so I’m sure my ingenious inventions will have relevance again someday.

My brother always had a way with words, he too, one enjoyed a brisk ‘sit’ now and then, and when told something, he would always offer these words of wisdom: “I wish you had said something before you spoke.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself!

 

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