Maine Crime Wave: Saturday, April 22nd Friday, Mar 17 2017 

Uncategorized Auntie M Writes Crime 2:35 pm

Readers, here’s a note from Gayle Lynds on the NEW Maine Crime Wave conference. Auntie M hopes to attend next year, but this inaugural year looks outstanding:

Writers conferences are like tea and cookies for me, or maybe like an AK-47 and a cyanide pill embedded in a molar. They’re exciting and often memorable in unexpected ways. They can range widely in our mystery-suspense-thriller field. I love the big ones; I love the small ones. Some of my very best friends in the world I met when we sat next to or bumped into each other, or I heard speak. Plus, although I’ve been publishing for some thirty years, I still learn at every one.

If you, too, love books and write in the crime field. Please join us at this year’s Maine Crime Wave on Saturday, April 22, in Portland. It’s going to be outstanding. Here are some details:

Ever wonder about the process of developing from debut author to New York Times bestseller? Hear the inside scoop from TESS GERRITSEN—winner of our inaugural CrimeMaster Award—and her renowned New York literary agent MEG RULEY of the Jane Rotrosen Agency.

What’s the truth about crime at the state level? Join us for insider tales from MAINE ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET MILLS, who will give the day’s luncheon keynote talk.

PLUS The conference includes panel discussions, theme-specific craft sessions, manuscript workshops, one-on-one agent critiques, and more:

★ Experts discuss how to write winning query letters
★ Debut authors reveal how they got published
★ Attorneys and law enforcement officers unveil inside info about crime & punishment
★ Top authors describe how they develop ideas into selling manuscripts
★ Break-out craft sessions give you the inside scoop on Plot, Character, & Scenes
★ A special hands-on manuscript workshop for four attendees
★ And join us at 4:00 p.m. for Two Minutes in the Slammer, an opportunity to read your own prose

All the details are here: http://mainewriters.org/maine-crime-wave/

Looking forward to meeting you! Gayle Lynds

[Gayle Lynds is a New York Times bestseller and multiple award winner of international espionage novels. Please visit her at http://www.GayleLynds.com]

 

Judith Flanders: A Cast of Vultures Sunday, Mar 12 2017 

amateur sleuth and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for and Series not to be missed Auntie M Writes Crime 12:59 am

castofvultures

Judith Flanders’ series featuring editor Samantha Clair is one Auntie M looks forward to reading, with good reason. The series has grown stronger, and with this third outing, A Cast of Vultures, demonstrates everything that’s good about Sam, mixing the smart and witty amateur sleuth-by-default with her Scotland Yard partner, Jake. There’s something to be said for a strong heroine who doesn’t really need anyone, but who chooses to be human enough to let people into her world.

An elderly friend traps Sam into helping her check on a missing neighbor while a series of minor arson fires range in the area. Then one fire turns deadly, with a body whose identity changes everything, and Sam unwittingly finds herself in the midst of being chased by thugs, forced to take drastic measures to defend herself.

The highlights of this series are many: Sam’s self-deprecating humor gives readers a clear-eyed, wry view of herself and those around her. Her mother and the neighbors who pepper the stories range from eccentric to phobic, but all are realistically drawn multi-faceted people. Auntie M is especially fond of Sam’s reclusive, brilliant, and understated upstair neighbor, Mr. Rudiger. We all wish we had a neighbor like Mr. Rudiger at times.

Then there’s the mystery itself, with a many-pronged approach that makes it complex and satisfying, overlapping at times with Jake’s work. And don’t forget Sam’s work world, which in this story provides a nice subplot as her publishing house undergoes what might be a restructuring.

From her Goth assistant, Miranda, who keeps an eye on Sam, to navigating the nature of her relationship with Jake, Sam Clair is someone you will want to spend time with as she finds herself embroiled in what turns out to be a humorous yet fast-paced mystery. Highly recommended.

 

Frances Brody: A Death in the Dales Wednesday, Mar 8 2017 

Award winning novelist and Continued series winner and great read and mystery to die for and Series not to be missed Auntie M Writes Crime 12:53 am

deathdales

Frances Brody’s newest Kate Shackleton mystery is one of her finest, an intricately plotted tale of crimes old and new, in A Death in the Dales.

Kate has taken her niece, Harriet, recovering from diphtheria, to stay for two weeks holiday at the Langcliffe home of Freda Simonson, now deceased, whose nephew, Dr. Lucien Simonsson has been courting Kate.

It’s to be a time to build up Harriet’s health, but the shadow of an old crime hangs over the town. Freda Simonsson was the only witness to the murder of the landlord of the tavern across the road, and believed till her dying day that the wrong man had been convicted of that murder.

Kate will soon find herself reading Freda’s notes on the crime, her voice reaching out to Kate from the grave, while Harriet befriends a young girl whose brother is missing. Her quiet vacation time suddenly seems very full indeed, with sleuthing around the various farms.

For if Freda was correct and the wrong man has been put to death, that means a murderer is still on the loose in the Yorkshire town.

This was one of Auntie M’s favorite Brody novels to date. The several plot lines come together in a way that’s extremely satisfying, as does the personal part of Kate’s life. Of course, her partner Jim Sykes and housekeeper Mrs. Sugden make an appearance, but it’s Kate who rules the day.

A satisfying entry in the series; Highly Recommended.

And don’t miss these two, new in paperback:

Redemption Road is John Hart’s thriller featuring cop Elizabeth Black, who rescued a young girl from a locked cellar and shot her kidnappers dead. But she’s also hiding a secret, and so are those around here. Filled with twists and turns.

A Banquet of Consequences is Elizabeth George’s newest Lynley/Havers mystery, a mix of complex plotting and psychological suspense, when a troubled young man’s suicide sets off a string of events that culminate in another death. This one was Highly Recommended when it debuted and readers who missed it at first can find it now in paperback.

 

Michelle Kelly: A Death at the Yoga Cafe’ Sunday, Mar 5 2017 

Continued series winner and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:44 am

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Kelly’s second Keeley Carpenter cozy, Death at the Yoga Cafe’, brings readers back to the small english village of Belfry, where Keeley has opened her vegetarian cafe’ and is gaining a steady clientele,despite competition from her arch rival, Raquel.

Things are going well in her love life, too, with Detective Ben Taylor, who seems understanding about her nervousness when her mother comes for a visit. Never one to throw around compliments, Darla Carpenter arrives unexpectedly early and brings her superior attitude and criticism with her.

The timing couldn’t be worse. The annual Belfry Arts Festival is right around the corner, bringing several artistic types to the town. The Raquel’s boyfriend, the town’s mayor, is found dead, and the focus is on Raquel, especially after a nasty argument they had right in front of Keeley’s cafe’ with several witnesses.

Despite Ben’s warning, Keeley just can’t let an innocent person be framed for murder, and soon finds herself up to her elbows in more than a Sun Salutation, when the culprit turns his eye on her.

Complete with descriptions of yoga poses and even a few vegetarian recipes, this is delightful brain candy set in a small English village.

N

 

Scott Frank: Shaker Friday, Mar 3 2017 

complex mystery and debut and great read Auntie M Writes Crime 12:10 am

shaker

Scott Frank is a talented screenwriter and director, penning movies such as Dead Again, one of Auntie M’s favorite movies, Get Shorty,Out of Sight, Minority Report and The Wolverine, to name just a few.

So it’s no surprise that his debut thriller, SHAKER, has short, declarative chapters and is filled with characters whose lives you will become immersed in, all wrapped up a well-plotted novel that comes alive on the page as it explores the dark underbelly of LA.

Hit man Roy Cooper is unlike any other character. You will not come to like him but you will understand him. You may even have empathy for the predicament he finds himself in. Just days after a major earthquake hits the area, and after fulfilling his most recent contract, Roy becomes a media hero after an onlooker catches him on video standing up to a gang where a mugging in an alleyway has turned deadly.

Soon everyone wants Roy, and no one more so than the hit man who taught him everything he knows, and who thought Roy was long dead.

Frank does a remarkable job of exploring the history and psychology of Roy Cooper, the gang members, and LA detective Kelly Maguire. There are themes of family and political corruption, as well as race, but what stands out is Frank’s ability to craft a book that will take readers on a bloody wild ride before the gripping conclusion.

There’s humor and pathos along with the action. Readers will be flipping pages faster and faster–Auntie M read it in one night. What Frank has done is to allow the reader to clearly understand each of these tormented and damaged characters. Stunning.

 

Tracee de Hahn: Swiss Vendetta Wednesday, Mar 1 2017 

complex mystery and debut and great read and mystery to die for and new series Auntie M Writes Crime 12:05 am

swiss-vendetta

Tracee deHahn’s debut bring readers to Lausanne, Switzerland, in Swiss Vendetta.

Perfectly capturing the setting during an ice storm, she introduces detective Agnes Luthi, a Swiss-American who has left behind her work with Financial Crimes to shed her old life before her husband’s death. Being new to Violent Crimes, Agnes is juggling her three sons’ care and grief, while living with a mother-in-law who blames her for her husband’s death.

Her first case will turn out to be a locked-room style, when she is called to investigate the murder of a young woman at the grand Chateau Vallotton, on Lac Leman. The ensuring blizzard and ice storm will keep Agnes and several others at the Chateau for days as the investigation continues and they are cut off from the outside world.

It’s not just the intense cold that has Agnes in its grip–it’s the eerie candlelit vastness of the Chateau, with too many rooms to count or explore; it’s the emotions and guilt she carries after her husband’s death; and it’s the knowledge that a murderer is among the people she’s staying with, eating with, talking with.

This Swiss family includes servants loyal to them for generations, and so Agnes worries her questions are not being answered truthfully when a young appraiser for a London auction house is found stabbed to death on the grounds.

Everyone she comes into contact with is a suspect; and she despairs of trusting anyone.

An complex mystery with plays out on several emotional levels, making it an accomplished debut. Highly recommended.

 

Clare MacKintosh: I See You Sunday, Feb 26 2017 

complex mystery and great read and mystery to die for and police thriller Auntie M Writes Crime 12:01 am

i-see-you

After Clare MacKintosh’s I Let You Go comes the chilling tale of an average woman in an average town, where nothing about her life becomes average at all, in I See You.

Zoe Walker has two children still living at home and a partner who adores her. She’s even civil with her ex, after a failed marriage. Working means a long commute into London, which she uses to people-watch and she passes the time reading magazines and newspapers.

Then an ad catches her eye: is that her own picture staring back at her from the site FindTheOne.com? What starts out as a possible mistake soon turns into something much more, when Zoe’s nervousness at the ad has her scouring back issues and she uncovers sees a pattern. Other women whose photos were in these ads were raped, had their houses broken into, or worse–were murdered.

Kelly Swift it a policewoman on a mission, determined to show her superiors she’s learned from an early mistake when she let her rage get the best of her when dealing with a rapist. After time spent paying her dues on different details, she begs for a chance to prove herself once she and Zoe convince the powers-that-be that these cases are connected.

They soon uncover that these women were stalked by people who pay into a website to gain their daily routine. It’s a nightmarish concept that has Zoe and everyone around her looking over their shoulders.

This is a multi-layered story, with Kelly’s as strong as Zoe’s, and interlaced with snippets of the voice of the person behind the scheme. Soon Zoe doesn’t trust anyone, and the spectacular twist at the end evolves into a double twist.

MacIntosh’s twelve years on the police force give her police scenes authenticity, whether Kelly is dealing with police politics or interviewing a suspect in the custody suite.

Readers won’t be able to put down this accomplished psychological thriller.

As a special treat, here’s a short video of Clare MacKintosh talking about her first piece of writing and the surprises of a writer’s life:

https://youtu.be/bY0ku9BwfcU

 

Lori L. Robinett: Fatal Obsession Wednesday, Feb 22 2017 

mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:14 am

llrobinett-72dpi-1500x20002

I am so excited to announce that Fatal Obsession, my new thriller, just launched (the paperback will be released on February 25, 2017)! All formats are available HERE.
As you may know, Fatal Obsession is a Widow’s Web novel – an thrilling series where women face challenges that threaten to destroy them, just as they begin to find the strengths within them.

Sophie grew up in the foster care system, an orphan separated from her brother after their parents are killed. After she marries Blake Kendrick and gets pregnant, she’s thrilled to have a family of her own. When she learns that her husband, a brilliant cancer researcher, has experimented on their unborn child, her fairytale shatters and the nightmare begins.

The powerful man her husband works for is determined to use the research within Sophie’s body to save his dying mother. Sophie runs, terrified of what might be growing within her, worried that her baby might need treatment by the very man who is hunting them. The survival skills she learned in foster care serve her well as she must discriminate between who she can trust and who she can’t, who is a real friend and who is a threat. All the while, an experiment grows within her . . . will they escape?

Want a sneak peek?

Almost in slow motion, the SUV floated across the rain-slicked blacktop, into the other lane.

“Shit,” Blake muttered. “Hang on. We’re hydroplaning.”

The tail end of the Grand Cherokee whipped around as Blake spun the steering wheel. A brief flash of craggy rocks flashed across her field of vision, trees, then blackness. The next thing she knew, the Grand Cherokee sat sideways on the narrow road, the front bumper only a few feet from a huge boulder jutting up out of the trees. The dark ribbon of river flowed behind it.

Suddenly, she remembered.
The baby!

She cradled her stomach and held her breath for a moment, waiting to feel movement. Surely she’d know if the baby was hurt. Somehow, someway, she would know, wouldn’t she? The seat belt was still tucked securely under her bump, but she ran one hand along the strap. Her shoulder hurt where the belt had grabbed her, as did her chest. She closed her eyes and imagined her baby safely ensconced in her womb. She might’ve been sloshed around a bit, but she was well protected.

She swept her hair back over her shoulders, then swiveled her head to look at Blake. His hands still gripped the steering wheel, but he was staring at her stomach. “Is the baby okay?” he demanded. His nostrils flared.

“She’s fine. I think she’s fine.” Her hands splayed over her stomach. The miracle within her had to be okay. Sophie already cared about her baby more than she’d ever imagined possible. This little girl was going to have a good life, with a loving family, a princess bed to be tucked into every night, and loads of stuffed animals, whatever she wanted. There would be no pallets on the floor for her baby, no foster parents looking for a paycheck.

“Are you sure?” He reached across and clamped his hand onto her wrist and looked at his watch.

Sophie laughed and tried to pull away. He jerked her hand back and she blinked. Long seconds ticked by before he released her.

“Pulse is a little fast, but that’s to be expected.” The clinical tone of his voice matched the chill in the air.

“I’m fine, too,” Sophie said, stung by his focus on the baby.

“Of course.” He huffed out a breath. His jaw tensed and he took two deep breaths before continuing. “Of course I want you to be okay, too. The baby might be big enough to survive without you now, but it would certainly be safer for you to carry it to term.”

Sophie blinked rapid-fire, his words cutting deep. It took her a moment, but she finally squeaked out, “Please don’t call her it.”

“It. She. Whatever. All that matters is that the baby survive. My research–” He clamped his mouth shut.

Her eyes widened as she spun to face him. Her heart raced. “What do you mean? What have you done?” Images of the calendar hanging in their kitchen flashed through her mind. The weekly appointments at the Center, all the tests that had been done, all the prenatal vitamins that had been prescribed . . . Blake tended to be distant under normal circumstances, but he’d been so attentive throughout the pregnancy.

“I never should’ve said anything.” He shook his head and held his hands up, palms out, like he was giving up. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, we need to get out of here.”

Ready for more? Get your copy today!
To celebrate the release, I’m giving away a $25 gift card to Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winners choice). Enter here (you can enter every day!):
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Yrsa Sigurdardottir: The Undesired Sunday, Feb 19 2017 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and great read and mystery to die for Auntie M Writes Crime 12:54 am

undesired
Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s latest novel veers from her outstanding series featuring Reykjavik lawyer Thora Gudmundosdottir into a different realm. The queen of Icelandic Noir has written a chilling stand-alone in The Undesired.

Alternating between to storylines, she tells of a bleak boys home in the 1970s, where young Aldis slaves away under the unsympathetic couple who run the home, saving her money to leave for the big city. Drawn to one young man, Einar, that decision will have disastrous consequences.

In the present, Odinn has been given his full charge of his 11-yr old daughter, Run, after the accidental death of his ex-wife. The government employees has been given the task of investigating alleged abuse that boys home, decades after the time.

The creepy factor ratchets up high once the two storylines being to merge with the accident that killed his wife.

This not the fast-paced ride of a thriller, but a slow, psychological build to a chilling and inexorable climax.

 

Lynn Chandler Willis: Tell Me No Lies Saturday, Feb 18 2017 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and great read and mystery to die for and new series Auntie M Writes Crime 12:39 am

Please welcome Lynn Chandler Willis, to talk to readers about:
Small Town Newspapers Make For Great Fiction:

tell-me-no-lies-front

Title: Small Town Newspapers Make For Great Fiction
By: Lynn Chandler Willis

When it comes to writing advice, one of the more common statements is write what you know. We writers hear it all the time. I usually ignore it all the time. My newest release, Tell Me No Lies, is the exception.

I never intended for the main character, Ava Logan, to be a shadow of myself. Yes, she’s the publisher and owner of a small town newspaper. So was I. Yes, she’s the single mom of two kids—a son and a daughter. So am I. Yes, she has a border collie named Finn. So do I.

But that’s where the similarities end. The other 97% of what makes fictional Ava Logan, well, fictional, is—-fiction.

Ava tends to be hot-headed. I’m laid back like my father. I’m the apologizer—you know, the one who apologizes even when I shouldn’t just to keep the peace. Ava struggled through a not-so-happy childhood. I was raised by Ozzie and Harriet. Well, not really, but pretty darn close. Couldn’t have asked for a better childhood.

So what part of Ava Logan is real? Not so much Ava, as it is the what—the newspaper she owns. The Jackson Creek Chronicle is fictitious. But is it real. Every small town newspaper publisher struggles with the issues Ava faces in Tell Me No Lies.

How many different ways can you write a story about the local pumpkin festival and make each one new and exciting? How many “public service announcements” for fundraisers, benefits, and soccer sign ups are going to run before someone actually buys ad space? And how many town council members are going to be livid at something published that more-or-less refers to them as nitwits? Since small town councils rarely ever totally agree on anything, at least one, maybe more, will at one time or another be on the publisher’s side.

Small town politics can be, and often are, downright ruthless. It pits neighbor against neighbor. That guy across the street, the one whose son plays T-ball with your kid, asked for a special use permit to build some chicken houses on his property. The neighborhood is against it, but the guy is within his rights. How are you going to vote Mr. Council Member? And better yet, how is the newspaper going to cover it? Will they make the council look like a bully if the council denies it? Or will they take the neighborhood’s side? Or will they present both sides equally and fairly?

That isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s an awful lot of gray area in the world of small town newspapers which often lead to a moral dilemma for the publisher. That makes for great conflict and good drama. Which makes great fiction.

Tell Me No Lies: Ava Logan, single mother and small business owner, lives deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, where poverty and pride reign. As publisher of the town newspaper, she’s busy balancing election season stories and a rash of ginseng thieves. And then the story gets personal. After her friend is murdered, Ava digs for the truth all the while juggling her two teenage children, her friend’s orphaned toddler, and her own muddied past. Faced with threats against those closest to her, Ava must find the killer before she, or someone she loves, ends up dead.

Lynn Chandler Willis has worked in the corporate world, the television industry, and owned a small-town newspaper. Her novel, Shamus-Award finalist, Wink of an Eye, (Minotaur, 2014) won the SMP/PWA Best 1st P.I. Novel, making her the first woman in a decade to win the national contest. Tell Me No Lies is the first title in the Ava Logan Mystery Series with Henery Press. She lives in North Carolina with a border collie named Finn.

Website: lynnchandlerwillis.com

 

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