Audiobook Review – The Diviners by Libba Bray

January 28, 2016March 9, 2016 ~ Erika K ~ 6 Comments

The Diviners by Libba Bray
Narrated by January LaVoy

Goodreads description:

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

Genre: Paranormal / Historical / Mystery / Thriller / Young Adult
My Rating: ***** (5 of 5 stars)

“There is a hideous invention called the Dewey Decimal System. And you have to look up your topic in books and newspapers. Pages upon pages upon pages…” ~ Evie O’Neill

First off, I have to say that I was ABSOLUTELY RELIEVED to find out that this is, in fact, the first book in a series – I did not want to say goodbye to these characters. I picked it up from the library on a whim, and was so glad that I did. I now have a hold placed on Lair of Dreams (book #2), and can’t wait for my turn to listen to that one too.

Evie O’Neill is a seventeen year old flapper with a gift – the gift of “reading” an object to discover its owner’s secrets. After an impromptu reading at a party gets her in trouble at home in Ohio, she is sent to live with her Uncle Will in New York. Her uncle runs a museum of the paranormal, and is called in by the police to help look into a string of unusual murders. Hoping to secure a permanent place in New York, Evie joins her Uncle Will’s team and helps investigate.

Libba Bray has done a wonderful job of transporting the reader back to 1920’s New York. I could almost see the flapper dresses and cloche hats, and hear the music and the clinking of glasses in the speakeasy clubs. The book would be worth reading for the glimpse into the past alone, but it has so much more to offer. Mystery, danger, secrets, powers, music, romance – I could go on and on!

I listened to this book, rather than reading a print edition, and I would highly recommend it. January LaVoy did an amazing job of bringing each character to life with his or her own voice and inflections. This was no small feat considering the size of the cast of characters she had to work with! I hope she will continue to read the rest of the books in this series as they are published.

If you’ve read The Diviners, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

WAYRW – Crimson Shore by Lincoln and Child

December 9, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 16 Comments

What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by It’s A Reading Thing. To participate, open the book you are currently reading to page 34 (or 34% in your ebook) and answer these three questions.

The Questions are:
1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a complete sentence. (or two!)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Now for my answers this week…

1. Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Agent Pendergast #15 – thanks to Kristi over at the Hidden Staircase blog for letting me know this one was available on NetGalley! This is one of my all-time favorite series.

2. “Please take care to park within the lines,” said Constance to the young man she had recruited to drive the car the length of town. He’d been gawking at the car while she stood there, wondering what to do, and she had offered to let him drive it. He had leapt at the chance. Only once he was in the car had she noticed he smelled like fish.

3. This installment in the Pendergast series takes place in a small coastal town in Massachusetts. Except for the nasty police chief, I don’t think I would mind living there.

Now how about you? What are you reading this Wednesday? Be sure to leave a link to your own post if you’ve done one!

Blog Tour and Giveaway (Ended)- Jean-Pierre ALAUX and Noël BALEN / The Winemaker Detective

November 30, 2015December 17, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

Jean-Pierre ALAUX and Noël BALEN

on Tour

November 23-December 23

with

The Winemaker Detective:
An Omnibus

(mystery)

Release date: December 5, 2015
at Le French Book

309 pages

ISBN: 9781939474568

Website | Goodreads

SYNOPSIS

The ideal gift for mystery and wine lovers — An immersion in French countryside, gourmet attitude, and light-hearted mystery.

Two amateur sleuths gumshoe around French wine country, where money, deceit, jealousy, inheritance and greed are all the ingredients needed for crime. Master winemaker Benjamin Cooker and his sidekick Virgile Lanssien solve mysteries in vineyards with a dose of Epicurean enjoyment of fine food and beverage. Each story is a homage to wine and winemakers, as well as a mystery.

In Treachery in Bordeaux, barrels at the prestigious grand cru Moniales Haut-Brion wine estate in Bordeaux have been contaminated. Is it negligence or sabotage?

In Grand Cru Heist, Benjamin Cooker’s world gets turned upside down one night in Paris. He retreats to the region around Tours to recover. He and his assistant Virgile turn PI to solve two murders and a very particular heist.

In Nightmare in Burgundy, a dream wine tasting trip to Burgundy turns into a troubling nightmare when Cooker and his assistant stumble upon a mystery revolving around messages from another era.

This made-for-TV series is “difficult to forget and oddly addictive” (ForeWord Reviews).

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen,
wine lover and music lover respectively,
came up with the idea for the Winemaker Detective series
while sharing a meal,
with a bottle of Château Gaudou 1996,
a red wine from Cahors
with smooth tannins and a balanced nose.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS

Anne Trager loves France so much she has lived there for 27 years and just can’t seem to leave. What keeps her there is a uniquely French mix of pleasure seeking and creativity. Well, that and the wine. In 2011, she woke up one morning and said, “I just can’t stand it anymore. There are way too many good books being written in France not reaching a broader audience.” That’s when she founded Le French Book to translate some of those books into English. The company’s motto is “If we love it, we translate it,” and Anne loves crime fiction, mysteries and detective novels.

***

Sally Pane studied French at State University of New York Oswego and the Sorbonne before receiving her Masters Degree in French Literature from the University of Colorado where she wrote Camus and the Americas: A Thematic Analysis of Three Works Based on His Journaux de Voyage. Her career includes more than twenty years of translating and teaching French and Italian at Berlitz and at University of Colorado Boulder. She has worked in scientific, legal and literary translation; her literary translations include Operatic Arias; Singers Edition, and Reality and the Untheorizable by Clément Rosset, along with a number of titles in the Winemaker Detective series. She also served as the interpreter for the government cabinet of Rwanda and translated for Dian Fossey’s Digit Fund. In addition to her passion for French, she has studied Italian at Colorado University, in Rome and in Siena. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband.

***

Follow Le French Book on Twitter | on Facebook

Buy the book | on Indiebound | Amazon | on Barnes & Noble

***

Global giveaway open internationally:
5 participants will each win a copy of this book.

Be sure to follow each participant on Twitter/Facebook,
for more chances to win

Enter here

Visit each blogger on the tour:
tweeting about the giveaway everyday
of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time!
[just follow the directions on the entry-form]

***

CLICK ON THE BANNER
TO READ OTHER REVIEWS AND EXCERPT

Audiobook Review – The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg

October 16, 2015March 9, 2016 ~ Erika K ~ 2 Comments

The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg
Narrated by Simon Vance

Fjällbacka Series #5

Description from Goodreads:

Crime writer Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her late mother’s possessions. Haunted by a childhood of neglect, she resolves to dig deep into her family’s past and finally uncover the reasons why.

Her enquiries lead her to the home of a retired history teacher. He was among her mother’s circle of friends during the Second World War but her questions are met with bizarre and evasive answers. Two days later he meets a violent death. Detective Patrik Hedström, Erica’s husband, is on paternity leave but soon becomes embroiled in the murder investigation. Who would kill so ruthlessly to bury secrets so old?

Genre: Mystery
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

Had I realized when I picked it up that this was the 4th book in a series, I would have looked for the first book to start at the beginning. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything starting at this point in the story, however. The relationships between characters were either evident or explained well enough that you can easily read or listen to this book without having read the previous books, and not feel lost.

A lot of Swedish crime fiction has a particular melancholy feel to it, and The Hidden Child is no exception. The author did injected occasional brief moments of humor into the story that helped lighten the mood, however, and they kept it from feeling too dark.

The story is told in both in the present, and through flashbacks, in the time around WW2. It follows the police investigation into the murder of a local historian, as well as the family drama unfolding as Erica Faulk digs into her mother’s past. The two series of events turn out to be more intertwined than anyone could have imagined, and even though I could see where it was going, the story didn’t give everything away at once and I didn’t really know what had happened until the end.

Making the story even more enjoyable to listen to, Simon Vance did a great job narrating. He has a smooth, even voice that fit the story perfectly. He also either speaks Swedish or spent some quality time learning how to pronounce the Swedish names and places in the book! 🙂

If you are a fan of police procedural and / or historical mysteries, give this one a try!

Dead Money Run Book Blitz and Excerpt

October 12, 2015October 12, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ Leave a comment

Dead Money Run by J. Frank James

Today I’m helping promote Dead Money Run – a Lou Malloy Crime story. It’s already got some great reviews on Goodreads. There’s a free preview at the bottom – check it out to see if Dead Money Run sounds like a book you’d enjoy!

Synopsis:
Lou Malloy learns of his sister’s death right before he is released from prison, having served 15 years for the theft of $15 million from an Indian casino. He wants two things: to keep the $15 million, which no one has been able to find, and to track down and punish whoever killed his sister.

Lou Malloy teams up with Hilary Kelly, a private investigator. In no time, Lou has found the hidden $15 million, recovered guns and ammunition hidden with the money, and murdered two low-level mobsters and fed them to the crocodiles.

As the body count rises, the story grows more complex and his sister’s death becomes more mysterious.

About the Author:
Frank James has a passion for writing, and he certainly has the knowledge and experience to write realistic crime thrillers, thanks to his extensive background in law. Jim attended law school, where he was a member of the law review. He even went on to pass the state bar and started his own law practice that specialized in complex litigation. Jim’s experience in law helps lend credibility to his crime fiction books. He has also traveled extensively and gains inspiration for his crime thrillers from his travels. From observing other cultures and gaining new experiences, Jim is able to infuse new life into his books and develop believable characters that readers can identify with.

Frank James writes crime thriller novels that are gripping and suspenseful. In 2013, he began publishing The Lou Malloy Crime Series, which is expected to span 20 books. The series follows Lou Malloy, a hardened criminal who did 15 years in prison for the theft of $15 million, and his partner Hilary Kelly, a private investigator. The titles include The Run Begins, Dead Money Run, Only Two Cats, Blue Cat in Paradise, Rainbow Games, Two Birds To Kill, Last Flamingo, and Finders, Keepers. J. Frank James creates all of his own book covers. To learn more, go to http://www.jfrankjamesbooks.com/

Connect with J. Frank James on Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Frank-James/e/B00EJLQRI0

Continue reading →

Happy 125th Birthday, Agatha Christie

September 15, 2015September 15, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 16 Comments

Today marks the 125th anniversary of Dame Agatha Christie’s birth, on September 15, 1890. She was always one of my favorite writers – I started reading Miss Marple stories in 4th grade, and have read 25 of her crime novels since then. At least, I’ve read 25 of them that I can remember reading – I think there may actually be a few more! I hope one day to actually finish all 82. (In addition to 82 crime novels and short story collections, she also wrote an autobiography, 6 romance novels using the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and 19 plays)

When I first discovered Agatha Christie’s novels, they had to be Miss Marple or I wouldn’t even pick them up. Tommy and Tuppence wouldn’t do, and I was not interested in reading about Hercule Poirot. I’m not sure what changed along the way, but Poirot is now my favorite Agatha Christie detective, and possibly my favorite fictional detective of all time. I love his interactions with Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp, the unflappable Miss Lemon, and Ariadne Oliver. As many books as I have left to read in her cannon, there are a few favorites that I re-read every so often. I can usually find some clue I missed the first time through, and it always feels like a visit to an old friend.

Are you a fan of Agatha Christie? If so, do you have a favorite or least favorite sleuth, or a favorite novel? I’d love to hear about it!

Audiobook Review – Palmetto Poison by C. Hope Clark

September 8, 2015March 9, 2016 ~ Erika K ~ Leave a comment

Palmetto Poison by C. Hope Clark
Narrated by Pyper Down

Carolina Slade #3

Genre: Mystery
Rating **** (4 of 5 stars)

After the Governor’s brother-in-law is charged with possessing and distrusting prescription medications illegally, Slade’s boss asks her to look into the matter. As soon as she starts investigating though, people start dying, and no one seems to want to cooperate with her investigation.

Continue reading →

Review – Speaking In Bones by Kathy Reichs

August 10, 2015August 9, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 9 Comments

Speaking In Bones by Kathy Reichs

Temperance Brennan #18

Genre: Mystery
My Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

In Speaking in Bones, Temperance Brennan (Tempe to her friends) is approached by a woman named Hazel Strike who claims to have information regarding an unidentified set of remains in the lab. Hazel is a websleuth, an amateur who tries to solve cold cases using information available on several websites dedicated to the pursuit. Skeptical and busy as always, Tempe isn’t convinced until Hazel herself turns up dead. On other fronts, Tempe still can’t decide what to do about Lt. Andrew Ryan and his marriage proposal.

This was a good mystery, full of twists, and fast paced. Tempe thinks she knows who killed Hazel and who the remains belong to only to find herself proven wrong. I was kept guessing right along with her. While I really enjoyed the mystery, Tempe’s indecision regarding her on again / off again relationship with Detective Ryan was starting to get to me. There was some resolution on that front near the end though, which is why the book gets 4 stars from me instead of 3.

If you’ve been following the series, you won’t want to miss this installment. While the mystery is completely stand-alone, I think this is one that will be more enjoyable if you read at least some of the earlier books first.

***Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Review – Isolation by Mary Anna Evans

August 3, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ Leave a comment

Isolation by Mary Anna Evans

Faye Longchamp Mystery #9
Available August 4, 2015 from Poisoned Pen Press

Genre: Mystery
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

***NOTE: I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

Another series I started in the middle – I really need to stop doing that! While you don’t need to have read the first 8 books in the series to enjoy Isolation, I think it would be better to read the earlier books first. There were several references I didn’t fully understand, but nothing that really impacted the mystery at hand. I would have liked to better understand the nuances of the relationship between Faye and her husband Joe, so I may have to go back and read some of the earlier books…..

Faye Longchamp lives on a small island with her family. Going to the mainland for breakfast one morning, her husband and recently-released-from-jail father-in-law find a local woman dead in the water off her restaurant’s pier. Fearing that her father-in-law might make an easy scapegoat, Faye starts looking into the murder

This book started out slow, and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. In the beginning of the story, we learn that Faye has recently suffered a miscarriage, and she’s having trouble coming to terms with the loss. Faye muddles around in a haze for several chapters, but as she starts to come back to herself, the book picks up pace as well. Once it gets going and you look back on the slow beginning, you can see that it is fitting considering Faye’s state of mind. I’m glad I didn’t give up during the slow part, because it finished up as a quick-moving, can’t-stop-until-I-know-who-did-it mystery.

Pre-order/Purchase from Amazon
Pre-order/Purchase from Barnes and Noble

Review – The Precipice: A Novel by Paul Doiron

July 31, 2015July 31, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

The Precipice: A Novel by Paul Doiron (audio edition)

Read by Henry Leyva
Mike Bowditch #6

Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

***NOTE: I won my copy in a Goodreads First to Read Giveaway***

Mike Bowditch is a Maine game warden along the Appalachian Trail. When two young female hikers go missing, Mike and his girlfriend, wildlife biologist Stacey Stevens, join in the search. Once the bodies are found with teeth marks on the bones, the locals fear they may have been killed by coyotes. Stacey is sure that they weren’t, and both she and Mike continue investigating, determined to find the truth of what happened to the two young women.

This was a well-written thriller, with believable characters and an interesting locale. The narrator did a nice job keeping his Maine accent where needed, without being over the top or distracting.

I didn’t realize when I first started listening that this was book #6, but it was easy enough to figure out from the frequent references to Mike’s past that it wasn’t the beginning of a series. The book worked fine as a standalone novel, but I think I would have liked it even more had I read some of the earlier novels first. I will probably read more in this series, but I will start back at the beginning so I can watch Mike grow up into the man he is in this novel.

Purchase from Amazon
Purchase from Barnes and Noble