Guest Post by Lauren Carr, author of A Fine Year for Murder (with giveaway)

by Carol3 Comments
An Author By Any Other Name …. By Lauren Carr (aka Jack’s wife, Tristan’s Mom, Marilyn Mayhem, and Beast Master) Occasionally, I receive an email from an author terrified of using Facebook, the Internet, or any social media for fear of friends and relatives identifying them. Once, I received an email from an author afraid to promote his upcoming book. “I have relatives out there who I don’t want to find me,” he said. I’m certain there’s a great story behind this, but he refused to tell me. I was surprised when I first started conducting workshops in using social media to discover that many writers are terrified of promoting their books online for fear of their friends and family finding out that they’re published authors. So, I offer this solution: Use a Pen Name! Read on to learn about my not-so-secret identity. My husband has been the financial director at our church for over twenty years. Yep, this mystery writer, who spends her days researching...
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The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri

by Carol2 Comments
This is the second Montalbano mystery I've listened to in a row. To some extent, I could just copy the review from the last, Game of Mirrors; Montalbano and his circle just don't change that much from book to book. For the most part, it's only the plots that vary. But they're easy, enjoyable listens, and usually available from the library, so I keep coming back to them. This time, it's a kidnapping, but the family clearly does not have enough money to pay a ransom, so who could possibly have kidnapped Susanna? An outsider who doesn't know the family's financial standing, or was she kidnapped for some other reason? The girl has a worried boyfriend and a father who would do anything to have her back. Her mother is on her deathbed and her uncle is doing all he can to help the family. I guessed most of the answer early on, although one piece took me longer. Overall, it's a good story. Camilleri...
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Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri

by Carol1 Comment
I've read/listened to several of the Montalbano mysteries over the years. It's a series I know what to expect from. The main characters don't change much over the years and the food always sounds delicious. For me, this is one of the series I turn to when I want something that I know I'll enjoy. This time around we've got a couple of bombings, but they both take place at empty warehouses, which is odd. Montalbano has a sexy new (married) neighbor who seems determined to seduce him. Her car's been vandalized and her computer salesman husband is never around. To top it all off, anonymous letters and phone calls are being sent to citizens, the prosecutor and a television station, all pointing in different directions. We've also got a couple of drug gangs that may or may not be involved. Of course, Montalbano manages to tie all the seemingly random events together. I often listen to the audios for this series, rather...
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Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis

by Carol2 Comments
Two men - Huston and DeMarco. Huston is a writer, a family man, a celebrity, and from all indications, has gone off the deep end and killed his wife children. DeMarco is a semi-stereotypical cop, a loner, a wounded man, but a good guy. The two were maybe friends by now DeMarco's job is to find Huston, who is on the run, or not. It's a decent set-up. Huston's thoughts are rambling, he doesn't let us know what happened. DeMarco thinks Huston is probably innocent, but the majority of the book is about finding Huston, other suspects barely enter the picture until late. I struggled through this one. I didn't get a chance to care about Huston because you never really know him, you just know the him that is shattered by the murders of his family. DeMarco I could almost like, but it's not just his dark moods and drinking and stalking his ex, he's not really a good cop....
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Cozy Christmas Shorts from Gemma Halliday Publishing

by Carol3 Comments
This was my last Christmas read for the season. Like most anthologies, it has its ups and downs. Each of these short stories fits into a series, but the only series I had read before is the Southern Pasta Shop mysteries. I will say that each story gave a good feeling for the main character and style of mystery and I'd like to read more of a few of them. Most of the mysteries were cute and fun, but I did have a few favorites. I didn't really hate any of them, but there were a couple that I wasn't fond of. Favorites: "Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas" by Leslie Langtry - The Bombay family may be assassins, but they are funny, pragmatic, inventive and really care about each other. And I loved the spin they took with And Then There Were None. "A (Gingerbread) Diorama of Death" by Gin Jones - Helen, the main character, seems like an interesting lady, even though...
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Rest You Merry by Charlotte MacLeod

by Carol1 Comment
I had never read anything by Charlotte MacLeod until I read her story in Mistletoe Mysteries a couple of weeks ago. When I was looking for a Christmas mystery that I hadn't read yet, I ran across Rest You Merry. Since her story in the collection had been fine, not one of my favorites but not one I disliked, and this is the first in a series, I decided to give it a listen. I'm glad I did. Peter Shandy is a great character and the way the holiday tied into the mystery was well-done. I don't want to spoil anything but the way the murder was covered up was very Christmassy. I loved the beginning. After being begged for years to decorate his house for the annual celebration/fundraiser, Peter finally does, and goes purposely way overboard and tacky -  and then leaves town. Perfect. Of course, he has to come back and face the (too loud) music earlier than he...
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