Towhee Get Your Gun - Spotlight & Giveaway

 

Towhee Get Your Gun
by J.R. Ripley

2nd in Series
Lyrical Underground (January 3, 2017)
288 Pages

Synopsis:

When Birds & Bees owner Amy Simms volunteers to act in a local production of Annie, Get Your Gun, she finds herself upstaged by a killer waiting in the wings . . .
Who’s got time for birdwatching? Amy has enough to do running her shop, fighting attempts by the town planning commission to demolish her old Victorian house, and rescuing an injured towhee. Yet somehow she allows herself to get roped into performing in the Ruby Lake, North Carolina, community theater’s new musical after some cast members get injured by mysterious mishaps. The production seems plagued by bad luck, but events turn tragic when a member of the company is found murdered in a locked dressing room.
Trading in her binoculars for a magnifying glass, Amy steps into the role of amateur sleuth and soon discovers the victim ruffled a lot of feathers. With a flock of suspects, Amy will need to beat the bushes before the cagey killer takes flight. After all, the show must go on . . .

About The Author:

J.R. Ripley is the pen name of Glenn Meganck, the critically acclaimed author of the Tony Kozol mystery series. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, he has chaired the Edgar committee for Best Original Paperback novel and served on the Best Short Story Committee. As a member of the International Association of Crime Writers, he has served on the Hammett Award committee for Best Novel. When not writing books, Glenn is writing songs, often singing them to the consternation of his audience and neighbors, or involved in one of his many passions, none of which have involved any of the dead bodies that seem to keep cropping up in his mysteries. For more information about him, visit glennmeganck.com.

Author Links

• Visit the Author’s Website
• • Leave your Review on Amazon!
  • Leave your Review on Goodreads!

Purchase Links:
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Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading A Fatal Twist by Tracy Weber. This book is the fourth book in the Downward Dog Mystery series and was released Sunday!

While training to be a doula, Kate witnesses an ugly scene involving a cheating doctor, his mistress, and a nurse. The ugly scene replays when Kate accompanies Rene and Sam to the opening of a new birthing center, where Rene will be giving birth. This time, however, the nurse in question isn't a co-worker, but his wife! Afterward, Kate nearly collides with the wife, who is also her yoga student, running from the employee break room. As Kate enters in an attempt to clean up after a culinary dispute between her friends, she discovers the murdered body of the philandering doctor.

Murder isn't the only mayhem in Kate's life, however. Michael has brought two rescued puppies into their household. Cute as anything, but just as rambunctious and destructive, the two are bent on wreaking havoc. Will Kate survive being involved in yet another murder as Michael attempts to be a puppy foster father?

Review - The Elusive Elixer

Review

THE ELUSIVE ELIXIR by Gigi Pandian

The Third Accidental Alchemist Mystery

Shocking truths from the past are revealed as Zoe travels to France to hunt for a cure for Dorian who continues to turn into stone. As Zoe copes with these revelations upon her return to Portland, even more secrets are revealed and the dangers of not untrue alchemy prove deadly. Will Zoe be able to save Dorian without sacrificing herself, or anyone else? Will Max be able to accept all that Zoe is? 

In this third book in the Accidental Alchemist Mystery series Zoe is faced with multiple trials. In trying to find the key to save Dorian, while keeping her identity as an alchemist quiet, she is confronted with information that challenges what she believed and believes to be true.

Ultimately, this novel is about sacrifice. What are you willing to do to save someone else, or yourself?

THE ELUSIVE ELIXIR is a tautly written mystery that combines the vagaries of truth with sacrifice. Gigi Pandian has the ability to transport you into her world with visceral details. I believed I was actually climbing the steps of Notre Dame, watching the bees swarm with the scent of honey and cloves in the air, and feeling the desperation of her characters. Yet everything is not all dark and dire, there is humor here as well, especially as we get to know Leopold. This third book in the series held me captivated and left me satisfied with an intriguing whiff of things to come.

A Second Chance Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Sofie Ryan to the blog today. Sofie writes the Second Chance Cat Mystery series. Telling Tails, the fourth book in the series, was released January 3rd!

Kathy: In the Second Chance Cat Mystery series Sarah Grayson is adopted by a rescue cat named Elvis. Have you ever been adopted by a cat? Or other animal?

SR: I have. Several years ago I was adopted by a big ginger tabby named George. He lived several streets away but he spent part of each day with me. His former owner had been a city councilor and it was fun to talk politics with George. He would listen intently with his head cocked to one side and meow very indignantly when he heard the mayor’s name!


Kathy: Sarah owns a secondhand shop. Lots of bargains and treasures can be found in those types of shops. Do you frequent them yourself? What's the best thing you ever found there?

SR: I love thrift shops and second hand stores. One of my favorite finds is my art table. All it needed was a coat of paint. I use the table every day. My breadmaker came from a thrift store. So did my briefcase.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

SR: I like mysteries because I can make sure the good guys get justice and the bad guys are punished. That doesn’t always happen in real life.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

SR: I’ve also written several young adult novels and I write poetry. I don’t usually show anyone the poetry!


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

SR: The Second Chance series features Sarah Grayson, her cat Elvis, the Angels--a group of senior citizen detectives, and Mr. P., the world’s oldest computer hacker. The books are set in North Harbor, Maine.

The Magical Cats mysteries, which I write as Sofie Kelly, are set in Mayville Heights, Minnesota. Kathleen Paulson is the head librarian there. Her cats, Owen and Hercules, have a “magical” ability to solve crimes.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

SR: I don’t really have a favorite character but I do have a soft spot for Elvis.


Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

SR: I didn’t have a specific inspiration for the series, but several of my mother’s friends did inspire Rose, Charlotte and Liz. Those friends were nothing like the stereotypical image we have of senior citizens. They made me laugh and like their fictional counterparts, they were always drinking tea and trying to feed me.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

SR: I like to tell stories. When I was a kid I’d make up stories to tell my friends.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

SR: Kurt Vonnegut, because Welcome to the Monkey House is one of my favourite books. Margaret Maron, because The Bootlegger’s Daughter is a perfectly written mystery. I’d invite Stephen Hawking because I’ve read A Brief History of Time several times and there are still parts I don’t understand. (And I could ask him about being on The Big Bang Theory.) And I’d have to invite Phoebe Gilman. She wrote one of my favorite children’s books, Jillian Jiggs.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

SR: I’m reading Shadow of a Doubt, an account of the murder of Canadian businessman, Richard Oland. I’m also reading The Whole She-Bang 3, an anthology of mystery short stories.


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

SR: In the good weather we do a lot of hiking. This past summer we visited six different waterfalls and I shared the photos on my website. I run (a little) and I swim. That all makes me seem way more athletic than I really am!


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

SR: Lactose-free milk, coffee, apples and flour (for making bread.)


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

SR: There will be another Magical Cats book in October—A Tale of Two Kitties. And I’ve just finished the next Second Chance Cats story.


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

SR: I really like telling stories to people. I never imagined when I was making up stories to entertain my friends that someday I’d be doing it as a job. It’s also fun to hear from readers from all over the world and hear about their cats.


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Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Dead and Breakfast by Kate Kingsbury. This book is the first in the Merry Ghost Inn Mystery series and will be released January 10th.

Melanie West was looking for a change when her grandmother, Liza Harris, asked her to move to Oregon to become her partner in owning and running a bed and breakfast. Leaving the remnants of a nasty divorce and a boring job as a financial analyst behind, Melanie joins her grandmother and starts to transform the house into a B & B. Although they had heard rumors that the house was haunted, the pair certainly did not expect to find a skeleton during their renovations. The police put a halt to the remodeling until a detective can further investigate this cold case. But, Liza is not one to sit idly by and she convinces her granddaughter that they need to investigate themselves so they can open the inn on time and start earning the money they desperately need. Meanwhile the sounds of male laughter when no one is near and small items found in odd locations add to Liza's conviction, and marketing plan, that there truly is a ghost, while unnerving Melanie, who doesn't believe that ghosts exist.

Child's Play - Book Blast

Child's Play

Merry Jones

January 3 Book Blast

Synopsis:

Since her husband’s murder two years earlier, life hasn’t been easy for Elle Harrison. Now, at the start of a new school year, the second grade teacher is determined to move on. She’s selling her house and delving into new experiences―like learning trapeze.
Just before the first day of school, Elle learns that a former student, Ty Evans, has been released from juvenile detention where he served time for killing his abusive father. Within days of his release, Elle’s school principal, who’d tormented Ty as a child, is brutally murdered. So is a teacher at the school. And Ty’s former girlfriend. All the victims have links to Ty.
Ty’s younger brother, Seth, is in Elle’s class. When Seth shows up at school beaten and bruised, Elle reports the abuse, and authorities remove Seth and his older sister, Katie, from their home. Is Ty the abuser?
Ty seeks Elle out, confiding that she’s the only adult he’s ever trusted. She tries to be open-minded, even wonders if he’s been wrongly condemned. But when she’s assaulted in the night, she suspects that Ty is her attacker. Is he a serial killer? Is she his next intended victim?
Before Elle discovers the truth, she’s caught in a deadly trap that challenges her deepest convictions about guilt and innocence, childhood and family. Pushed to her limits, she’s forced to face her fears and apply new skills in a deadly fight to survive.

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller, Suspsense
Published by: Oceanview Publishing
Publication Date: January 3rd 2017
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 1608091910 (ISBN13: 9781608091911)
Series: Elle Harrison Thriller #3 (Each can be read as a Stand Alone Novel)
Purchase Links: Amazon  | Barnes & Noble  | Goodreads 

Read an excerpt:

I was the first one there.
The parking lot was empty, except for Stan’s pickup truck. Stan was the custodian, tall, hair thinning, face pock-marked from long ago acne. He moved silently, popped out of closets and appeared in corners, prowled the halls armed with a mop or a broom. In fourteen years, I couldn’t remember a single time when he’d looked me in the eye.
Wait—fourteen years? I’d been there that long? Faces of kids I’d taught swirled through my head. The oldest of them would now be, what? Twenty-one? Oh man. Soon I’d be one of those old school marms teaching the kids of my former students, a permanent fixture of the school like the faded picture of George Washington mounted outside the principal’s office. Hell, in a few months, I’d be forty. A middle-aged childless widow who taught second grade over and over again, year after year, repeating the cycle like a hamster on its wheel. Which reminded me: I had to pick up new hamsters. Tragically, last year’s hadn’t made it through the summer.
I told myself to stop dawdling. I had a classroom to organize, cubbies to decorate. On Monday, just three days from now, twenty-three glowing faces would show up for the first day of school, and I had to be ready. I climbed out of the car, pulled a box of supplies from the trunk, started for the building. And stopped.
My heart did triple time, as if responding to danger. But there was no danger. What alarmed me, what sent my heart racing was the school itself. But why? Did it look different? Had the windows been replaced, or the doors? Nothing looked new, but something seemed altered. Off balance. The place didn’t look like an elementary school. It looked like a giant factory. A prison.
God, no. It didn’t look like any of those things. The school was the same as it had always been, just a big brick building. It seemed cold and stark simply because it was unadorned by throngs of children. Except for wifi, Logan Elementary hadn’t changed in fifty years, unless you counted several new layers of soot on the bricks.
I stood in the parking lot, observing the school, seeing it fresh. I’d never paid much attention to it before. When it was filled with students, the building itself became all but invisible, just a structure, a backdrop. But now, empty, it was unable to hide behind the children, the smells of sunshine and peanut butter sandwiches, the sounds of chatter and small shoes pounding Stanley’s waxed tiles. The building stood exposed. I watched it, felt it watching me back. Threatening.
Seriously, what was wrong with me? The school was neither watching nor threatening me. It was a benign pile of bricks and steel. I was wasting time, needed to go in and get to work. But I didn’t take a single step. Go on, I told myself. What was I afraid of? Empty halls, vacant rooms? Blank walls? For a long moment, I stood motionless, eyes fixed on the façade. The carved letters: Logan School. The heavy double doors. The dark windows. Maybe I’d wait a while before going inside. Becky would arrive soon, after she picked up her classroom aquarium.
Other teachers would show up, too. I could go in with them, blend safely into their commotion. I hefted the box, turned back to the car. But no, what was I doing? I didn’t want to wait. I’d come early so I could get work done without interruption or distraction before the others arrived. The school wasn’t daring me, nor was I sensing some impending tragedy. I was just jittery about starting a new year.
I turned around again, faced its faded brown bricks. I steeled my shoulders, took a breath and started across the parking lot. With a reverberating metallic clank, the main doors flew open. Reflexively, I stepped back, half expecting a burst of flames or gunfire. Instead, Stan emerged. For the first time in fourteen years, I was glad to see him. Stan surveyed the parking lot, hitched up his pants. Looked in my direction. He didn’t wave or nod a greeting, didn’t follow social conventions. Even so, his presence grounded me, felt familiar.
I took a breath, reminded myself that the school was just a school. That I was prone to mental wandering and embellishing. And that children would stream into my classroom in just three days, whether I was ready or not.

 Author Bio:

Merry Jones is the author of some twenty critically acclaimed books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her work has been translated into seven languages. Her previous Elle Harrison novels have been THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE and ELECTIVE PROCEDURES. Jones lives with her husband in Philadelphia.

Catch Up with Merry online: Website , Twitter , & Facebook 

January 3, 2017 BLAST Participants:

Tour Participants:

Next Month Merry will be touring with her new book Child's Play. The following sites, and more, will be hosting reviews, interviews, guest posts, and MORE Giveaways! Drop by to learn more about Merry and her great new book!

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for Merry Jones. There will be 2 winners of one (1) eBook copy of Child's Play by Merry Jones. The giveaway begins on January 3rd and runs through January 9th, 2016.

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

Happy New Year 2017!

Happy New Year 2017! I'm wishing you lots of pleasurable reading ahead. May we discover new series and find authors that are new to us. Let us enjoy the work of authors we know and love and catch up on series in which we've fallen behind as well as start those on our TBR piles!

I read 62 books this past year and read books which started with 15 different letters of the alphabet! May I accomplish even more this year.

I hope share even more authors, interviews, reviews, and books with you in 2017. Make sure you stop by both here and on my Facebook page during the coming year. Keep in touch. Leave me a note, tell me about your reading, what you enjoy seeing on my blog, and perhaps ideas on what you'd like to see! Above all, have a healthy and happy New Year!