Posted in Monday, mystery on July 8, 2013

I’m excited to share this week’s mystery feature with you by author Larry A. Winters.  He has graciously sent me a copy and I’ll be reading it sometime in the next few months (still working down that TBR pile!).

hardcore

 

Synopsis:

Ashley Hale was a rising star in the adult entertainment world before she abruptly moved to the other side of the country, leaving behind money, fame, and excitement for a nine-to-five bank job and a sensible apartment.  But there was one tie to the industry she could not sever.  Her sister, Tara, was also a porn star.  Two years later, when Tara supposedly commits suicide, Ashley must return to the San Fernando Valley and the life she thought she’d left behind.  Now she’s not sure who she can trust—especially the handsome new video editor who seems intent on helping her.  But she won’t leave Los Angeles until she’s proven Tara’s death was a murder.  And until she’s faced the killer.

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You can find the book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Posted in Monday, mystery on July 1, 2013

Welcome author Ritch Gaiti to StoreyBook Reviews!  He has written a mystery that sounds good and I will be reading and reviewing in the coming months.

The Big Empty

Synopsis:

A gritty lawyer uncovers an ancient conspiracy and the betrayal of a man and a nation. A thriller mystery of treachery, trust and redemption. . . .

Every instinct I had told me to get out but I couldn’t, not now. This simple case would trigger repercussions that would unnerve the city, maybe the country. I was about to open doors that had been nailed shut for a lifetime. And the only path to the truth was through a labyrinth of deceit. I trusted no one, not even myself. My stomach tightened.

The ten years had slipped by like a century.  I never thought I’d see New York again and now I find myself buried in its bowels, unsure of what I was after—but I knew I had to find it. I snaked through the city bureaucracy, historical landmarks and some of the most prominent properties in the city, all intricately linked. Nothing fit, yet everything connected and answers only bred more questions. Somehow it had all been mysteriously tied back to me.

I ventured into the darkest tunnel of all, my own.  I realized then why I was chosen—why I had been the only one that could find this elusive document.  Deep within a maze of deceptions and betrayals, I uncovered a massive conspiracy among the most esteemed organizations in the world—and the truth that had sent my life into a tailspin ten years ago was far from true. Suddenly, this seemingly routine assignment suddenly had enormous stakes and consequences. Now it was up to me to mend an ancient injustice and the fate of an entire culture.

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Why I wrote The Big Empty

Set in modern day New York City, the story begins post-911, deep in the bedrock beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center, and picks up ten years later as one man reluctantly takes on a trivial assignment and winds up uncovering a secret that changes centuries-old history. The story slowly unfurls, revealing layers of an intricate backstory and conspiracy.

Some of my favorite novels have had strong characters that changed throughout the story and surprising plot twists.  My tools were simple – a lead character that had bottomed-he serves as the surrogate for a much larger issue which is revealed in the book. The first-person point of view emulates the gritty style of a classic private investigator –yet he is anything but.

My underlying goal was to tell a story about American injustices – and the way that they were accepted because of greed – and to correct the injustices – at least in fiction. Much of the story was based on historical events, some fictionalized, some dramatized.

About the Author:

Ritch Gaiti is an author, an artist and a former Wall Street Executive. He focuses on a wide range of subjects and genres: from drama to suspense to humor; from fiction to non-fiction. His first book, Points, Women Have Them, Men Need Them, was a humorous relationship book. Afterwards, sticking with humor, he wrote Tweet, a fictional satire on consumerism and the advertising industry. Recently, Tweet has been optioned for a feature film. His last book, Dutching the Book, a fictional drama based on real people and events, delivers an absorbing story about horse racing and gambling in 1960’s Brooklyn.

Ritch has also written articles for magazines, including Private Wealth, Tango and Balance magazines and has been featured on national TV and radio, including a guest appearance on the Today Show, opposite Joan Rivers.

In addition to writing, Ritch is a recognized artist who exhibits regularly in galleries and museums across the country. His portfolio can be viewed on his website. He is also recreational pilot and enjoys tennis and skiing.

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Posted in Monday, mystery on June 24, 2013

Last week I told you about the first book in the Pat O’Malley series.  Well this week is book two in the series by author Jim Musgrave.

Disappearance at Mount Sinai

Synopsis:

It’s 1866 in New York City. Civil War Vet and Detective Pat O’Malley’s biggest case returns him to the deep, dark South to search for the kidnapped wealthiest inventor and entrepreneur in America. But the widening gyre of anti-Semitism and racism pulls him down into the pit of hell itself. Disguised as an Oxford England Professor, O’Malley infiltrates the anti-Semites’ group and travels with his partners, Becky Charming and his father, Robert, down to a Collierville, Tennessee mansion.

At the crux of this case are a Jewish father and his eight-year-old son, Seth. They have developed a unique bond that relies on Jewish folklore and a belief that they are Mazikeen, half-angel and half-human, born from the loins of Adam’s strange female cohorts during the 130 years he was banished from the Garden. Will O’Malley find Dr. Mergenthaler before it’s too late? What does this world-wide eugenics group have planned for the mongrel races? Read Jim Musgrave’s Disappearance at Mount Sinai, the second mystery in the series of Pat O’Malley Mini-Mysteries.

You can find it on Amazon

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Posted in Monday, mystery on June 17, 2013

This week’s edition brings you the first book in a new series, called the Pat O’Malley Mysteries by author Jim Musgrave.  This book is Forevermore and you probably guessed, it ties in to Edgar Allen Poe.

Forevermore

 

Forevermore (72dpi 900x600)

Synopsis:

In post Civil War New York City, Detective Pat O’Malley is living inside Poe’s Cottage in the Bronx. O’Malley is haunted by Poe one night, and the detective finds a strange note. As a result, O’Malley decides to prove that Edgar Allan Poe did not die in Baltimore from an alcoholic binge but was, instead, murdered. O’Malley quickly becomes embroiled in a “cold case” that thrusts him into the lair of one of the most sinister and ruthless killers in 1865 New York City.

Jim Musgrave’s “Forevermore” is a quick read in four acts that will keep your mind razor sharp trying to solve the mystery of Poe’s murder. Pat O’Malley must first find out how to become intimate with females before he can discover the final clue in this puzzle of wits, murder and romance

Install the Pat O’Malley Historical Mini-Mysteries App to get all info on future mysteries in the series.

You can find the book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble

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Posted in Cozy, Monday, mystery on June 3, 2013

Two weeks ago I shared with you book two of the Victoria Square series, and this week it is book three, One Hot Murder by author Lorraine Bartlett.

onehotmurder

 

Synopsis:

Katie Bonner, the reluctant manager of Artisans Alley in the quaint shopping district of Victoria Square, is no stranger to ambivalence. Things have been going hot and heavy with pizza maker Andy Rust—so much so that Katie has moved in over his pizza parlor. But now that summer’s ushered in a heat wave, an apartment above pizza ovens without an air conditioner is making Katie hot and bothered.

At the height of the heat wave, a tragic fire strikes Victoria Square. Wood U, a small store selling wooden gifts and small furniture, is destroyed. But the fire may just be a smoke screen—for murder. A body is found among the charred wreckage, and the victim didn’t die from smoke inhalation. He was shot. Now—despite making Detective Ray Davenport hot under the collar—Katie is determined to smoke out a coldhearted killer.

 

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Posted in Cozy, Monday, mystery on May 27, 2013

First off, Happy Memorial Day!  I hope you are out having a good time with friends and family and perhaps a good burger on the grill!

This week’s edition of Mystery Monday brings you book two in the Devereaux’s Dime Store series, Nickeled and Dimed to Death by author Denise Swanson.

nickeled

Synopsis:

In New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson’s “slightly zany”* new mystery series, Devereaux Sinclair loves running her old-fashioned store in her small Missouri hometown. If only murder didn’t keep landing on her doorstep…

Dev’s five-and-dime may be doing well, but her love life is in turmoil. She’s torn between Deputy U.S. Marshal Jake Del Vecchio, who is on an undercover assignment, and her ex-beau Noah Underwood, the local doctor from a high-society family. So she welcomes the distraction when Elise Whitmore offers her a great deal on antique chocolate molds that would be perfect for her Easter gift baskets. But do the molds actually belong to Elise’s soon-to-be ex-husband? In buying them, has Dev committed a felony?

When Elise is found shot to death, the mystery deepens—and Dev’s good friend Boone, who discovered the body, is taken into custody. With the help of her best buds, Dev must clear Boone’s name and find the real killer. Good thing that when it comes to amateur sleuths, they broke the mold with Dev Sinclair.

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Posted in 4 paws, Cozy, Monday, mystery on May 20, 2013

This week I bring you book two in the Victoria Square mystery series by author Lorraine Bartlett.  She writes many series but this is a relatively new series with just 3 books out right now.  I am enjoying this series but I wonder why Kate is dating Andy…they don’t seem like a well matched pair and I wonder if that will change in the future.

walled flower

Synopsis:

If Katie Bonner’s late husband hadn’t invested all their savings in the crafts fair Artisans Alley, the Webster mansion could have been hers to remodel into a bed-and-breakfast. Instead that dream belongs to another young couple. But that dream becomes a nightmare when a skeleton is discovered sealed in the walls of the mansion. The bones belong to Helen Winston, who went missing twenty-two years ago. Heather’s aunt, a jewelry vendor at Artisans Alley, asks Kate for help finding her niece’s murderer. The case may be cold, but the killer is very much alive-and ready to go to any lengths to keep past secrets buried

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Posted in 5 paws, cooking, Cozy, Monday, mystery on May 13, 2013

I just finished the 16th book in the Hannah Swenson series, Red Velvet Cupcake Murder.  I love these books mainly for all the recipes (some I try but I drool over them anyway!).  Joanne also came out with a cookbook (with a mini mystery included) and I tried a couple of recipes from that cookbook for my book club’s cookie exchange.  mmmmmm, yummy!  She also has some recipes on her website, where you can also get more details on all these books plus an earlier book that is being republished called Video Kill.

red velvet

Synopsis:

This summer has been warmer than usual in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and Hannah Swensen is trying to beat the heat both in and out of her bakery kitchen. But she’s about to find out the hard way that nothing cools off a hot summer day like cold-blooded murder…

It’s a hot, muggy evening, and the last thing Hannah wants to do is squeeze into a pair of pantyhose for the Grand Opening of the refurbished Albion Hotel. But with Hannah’s famous Red Velvet cupcakes being served in the hotel’s new Red Velvet lounge, she can’t bring herself to back out.

The party starts off with a bang with the unexpected arrival of Doctor Bev, a Lake Eden legend who left town in shame after she two-timed her fiancé  one too many times. Bev’s splashy appearance on the arm of a wealthy investor is the talk of the night. But the gossip comes to a screeching halt when a partygoer takes a mysterious dive off the hotel’s rooftop garden.

The victim is the sheriff’s secretary, Barbara Donnelly, and she is barely clinging to life. The question is, did she fall—or was she pushed? As the police investigate, the only one who isn’t preoccupied with the case is Doctor Bev. She’s too busy trying to stir things up with her old flame Norman, who’s reunited with Hannah. Just as Hannah’s patience with Bev runs dangerously thin, her rival is found dead at the bottom of Miller’s Pond. The only clue the police have is the Red Velvet cupcake Bev ate right before she died — and the tranquilizers someone seems to have baked into it. To everyone’s shock, Hannah is now the unlikely target of a murder investigation — and she’s feeling the heat in a way she never has before…

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Posted in fiction, Monday, mystery, suspense on May 6, 2013

bloodmakesnoise

Synopsis:

On a summer’s night in 1955, CIA agent Michael Suslov is summoned to a secret vault in the heart of Buenos Aires. His mission: transport the corpse of Eva Peron to a new hiding place in the wake of her husband’s fall from power. But before Michael can comply, everything goes tragically, horribly wrong…

Sixteen years later, Michael Suslov is a ghost of a man, an ex-government agent living off the radar—and the only soul alive who knows where Evita is buried. When an old friend from Argentine Military Intelligence appeals to him for help bringing the body home, Michael agrees, hoping this final mission will quiet the demons from his past. But he’s not the only one on a recovery mission: two rogue CIA agents are tracking him, desperate to unearth Evita before Michael does—and to claim the secret millions they believe she took to her grave.

Based on a little-known yet fascinating true story, Blood Makes Noise is a brilliant examination of the power of the dead over the lives of the living.

You can buy the book on Amazon for $7.72 right now

About the author:

A native of Laguna Beach, California, Gregory Widen is a former firefighter, NPR station host, and mountain-rescue team member. While a film student at UCLA, he penned the script for what would become the movie Highlander, starring Sean Connery. Among his other screenplays are Backdraft and The Prophecy, and his television writing includes scripts for Tales from the Crypt and Rescue 77. A committed traveler, his explorations have taken him to war-torn Somalia, Uzbekistan, Namibia, the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the arctic island of Svalbard, Indonesia, and Argentina. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is at work on a film for Universal Pictures.

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Posted in Monday, mystery on April 29, 2013

I love when authors contact me and ask me to read their book and especially when it is a mystery (which I love).  This week’s highlight is Identity by author Shawna Seed.  I will be reviewing this book in the coming months but wanted to give you a chance to check it out sooner rather than later.

identityshawnaseed

Synopsis:

Sharlah Webb thinks her luck is finally turning, until her boyfriend, Brian, is jailed on drug charges. Now a hurricane is bearing down, she’s broke, and Brian’s secrets have put them both in danger. Can she trust Brian? The police? Sharlah begins her own search for answers, launching a mystery that will take years to unravel.

Identity: A novel of suspense, love and finding your true self.

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