The Essence of Malice

Amory and Milo Ames are enjoying their visit to Lake Como, Italy, when they receive a troubling letter from Milo's former nanny. This sends them rushing to Paris in The Essence of Malice by Ashley Weaver.

Madame Nanette has been caring for the child of her employer Helios Belander, one of France's premier parfumiers. His perfumes are "Worthy of Queens," as the slogan goes. Helios was a man who met with success throughout his illustrious career, and introduced his children to the business.

Cecile, the eldest daughter, has the "nose" as they say in the perfume business. Her father has allowed her to serve as his right hand man, but it is son Anton he wants to run the company.

Anton, on the other hand, has no nose for the business and only wants to become richer. The third child Michel is a dilettante.

When Helios dies unexpectedly after a small plane crash and before the launch of his highly-anticipated new perfume, the medical report lists the cause as heart

failure, but Nanette is not convinced. She coaxes Milo and Amory into looking into the death. To get closer to the family Amory tells Cecile she wants a perfume especially blended for her and she agrees, giving Amory a chance to investigate.

With millions at stake and the reputation of one of the best parfumiers in France in limbo, Amory and Milo dig deeper and find the heirs vying against each other for control of the company. Could one of them have killed their father? What about the lovely, young wife? Where does she fit in?

What Amory and Milo uncovers leads to a dangerous revelation that might endanger their own lives.

As someone who would love to have a specially-blended perfume made for her, I very much enjoyed this book. The behind the scenes of scent creation was enlightening. 

Murder Games

When I read the synopsis of Murder Games by Elisabeth Crabtree, I thought the book would be right up my alley. But as I plodded through the convoluted and confusing plot, I wasn't so sure.

Grace Holliday and her boyfriend Kyle Drake are lucky enough to secure two tickets to the Murder Manor, a mansion associated with the Crystal Palace Hotel. They find themselves in the middle of the "murder mystery" and are happy to play their parts.

That is until someone turns up dead. The other characters include a married couple, Jerry and Caroline Knight; Laura and her sister Sabrina; Mis Ivy, the mistress of the house and her butler Rupert and several other characters. Some of them take their roles very seriously and refuse to be called by their real names.

The plot takes a very long time to unravel and there are several incidents that seem not to be relevant to the story. One of my main complaints is that most of the characters switch back and forth from the cast names to their real names throughout the book. Most of the time I wasn't even sure who was who. Even the lead character switches between a dim bulb and a brilliant detective.

Maybe jumping into the fourth book in the series was a mistake, so if you are going to read the Grace Holliday books, I suggest you start at the beginning of the series.

Death on Tap

When Sloan Krause walks in on her husband Mac and a saucy barmaid in the midst of a tryst, she knows she should have seen it coming. In Death on Tap by Ellie Alexander, Sloan has been happily cooking and helping her in-laws in their brewery in Leavenworth, Washington. Mac's infidelity complicates her relationship with her in-laws.

Weeks later Sloan decides she needs to move on from the family business and she applies to a new nano brewery called Nitro. Owner Garrett Strong is a newcomer to Leavenworth and he is looking for someone to manager the brewery. Sloan believes she can help with the food prep as well.

Throwing herself into the new brewery and even dabbling in blending her own beer, Sloan feels she might be able to get her life back on track.

On the morning of the soft opening Sloan hears angry words between Garrett and her husband Mac - with what sounds like a threat from Mac. Later on that evening at Nitro, Mac bursts in trailed by the barmaid, who it turns out is the ex-girlfriend of another brewer, Eddie Deluga. More words pass among the brewers and Sloan tries to soothe everyone before their tempers ruin the opening.

The next morning Sloan finds Eddie floating in one of the beer tanks and she spots Mac's lighter on the ground nearby. In Eddie's hand is a copy of Garrett's new brew, Pucker-up IPA. Suddenly Sloan wonders how much she actually knows about her new boss and why he is in Leavenworth. Although she knows Mac is a cheater, she believes he is not a murderer and she plunges into the investigation.

As she talks to other people in town, Sloan realizes there are secrets brewing around the town that involve many of her friends. Piecing together the solution takes her deeper into the lives of the townspeople.

I enjoyed Death on Tap and the background of breweries. Not being a beer drinker myself, I didn't know much about craft brewing, but I was interested in learning about the way microbrews are developed - almost like baking a cake - a little of this, a dash of that and time to ferment.

And the winners are. . . Kara Vaughan Marks and Mate Polijak. I will be in touch with you via email. Thanks to all who entered and to Mollie Cox Bryan, author and Kensington Books for the copies of Macrame Murder for the winners.
We hope you will continue to read MapYourMystery.com blog and follow MapYourMystery on Facebook.

Watch for another giveaway in October.

A Sticky Inheritance

Leaving northern Virginia and driving to lower Michigan in October is a chilly experience even if the drive doesn't culminate in a funeral. It's Nicole Fitzhenry-Dawes responsibility to arrange a funeral for her Uncle Stan in A Sticky Inheritance by Emily James. When she learns the autopsy showed a high alcohol level in his blood stream and an overdose of his heart medication, the coroner rules it as an accidental overdose or suicide.

But Nicole knows this cannot be true. Her uncle Stan had been a well-known cardiologist and his own heart condition was alcoholic cardiomyopathy - caused by heavy years of drinking. She knew he had quit drinking years before and refused to believe he would take his own life.

The farm he purchased years before had become his life. He enjoyed the small town living and the less stressful lifestyle as he told Nicole in a recent email. She convinces the medical examiner and the police chief to let her examine Stan's home to prove he was murdered. What they find seems to contradict her belief, but Nicole still argues the case.

One thing sticks in her mind - the chapter in a book about caffeine's negative interactions with the heart. What was Uncle Stan working on and why were there so many empty beer bottles in his trash?

With the help of the handsome (but possibly married) medical examiner, Nicole discovers the offending beer bottles held no fingerprints. She uncovers a complicated plot to kill someone else and finds her uncle got in the way as collateral damage.

We'll hear more from Nicole in other books to come as she has inherited the land and the sugar bush in Michigan. Looking forward to discovering what is going on with the handsome Mark Cavanaugh.

Don't forget to enter for a chance to win in the first MapYourMystery giveaway.

Interview with Sally Goldenbaum

How many books have you published?
34

How did you become interested in writing?

I've written all my life, Words have always brought me comfort somehow. And pleasure. As a philosophy major I did plenty of writing, then working in marketing and PR (WQED in Pittsburgh and an educational channel in Bloomington IN) gave me additional opportunities. I also worked as an editor of journals for a while and taught creative writing. I suppose I always, somewhere in the back of my head, had the desire to write a book.

What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening, etc?
I don't have a set schedule, though I often wish I were one of those writers who got up at 6, had coffee, and hit the office. I start my day more slowly, then usually read out to Starbucks or a library (I have an office at home but find it difficult to work there, with the refrigerator so handy and laundry that needs to be done. My wish would be to write like crazy for 4 hours and then have a life afterwards. But it rarely works out so nearly.

When my deadline begins to loom, I DO work on word count, knowing approximately how many I need to get in each week. I also frame my day around chapters sometimes.

Do you plot the entire book first, then write or plot as you go?
No. I begin with a sketchy synopsis that I share with my publisher, but I almost never know who the murderer is or why the act was committed. Usually I know who the victim is. But my stories unravel as I write them.

Do you use real people and places as models for your books?
Real people influence and inspire the characters in my book, as do places. My town is fictitious but loosely modeled on three towns on Cape Ann MA: Gloucester (actually a city), Rockport, and Manchester by the Sea.

Who is your favorite author?
I honestly don't have a favorite author. I read a whole variety of books--mysteries, women's fiction, general novels. Right now I am reading A Gentleman in Moscow and a debut novel, Girl in the Snow. I just finished a novel for my 9-yr-old granddaughter's mother/daughter bookclub, Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai. It was excellent!

How do you promote your books?
Mostly social media (fb, website, twitter), and book signings. My publisher adds into this memes they post on social media, blog tours they arrange, giveaways, etc.

Murder Wears Mittens by Sally Goldenbaum is on sale now.

Don't forget to enter for a chance to win in the first MapYourMystery giveaway.

Sticks and Bones

A New Year's celebration goes bad when Frangelica "Sister" McFee makes her grand entrance in Sticks and Bone by Carolyn Haines. Sarah Booth knew Sister in college and her arrogant, cruel ways have changed not at all even as she became a successful author.

Her latest best seller documents the deaths of her mother, Cleo and brother many years ago. Sister seems determined to have her brother Son (of all names) take the blame for drunk driving and killing himself and their mother. Worst of all, she is back in Zinnia to film a movie based on the book.

The movie producers think there might be more to the story and hire Sarah Booth and Tinkie to investigate. Also in the frame is Colin McFee, husband of Cleo, now married to Susan. Colin, an ultra wealthy developer, is running for Senator in Mississippi. His platform includes rants about how Vladimir Putin is destroying the economy of Mississippi. I would have thought this premise was too bizarre even for southern politics, but now that this country has experienced the most recent presidential election, nothing surprises me or seems outrageous any more. He is truly crazy.

A convoluted trust agreement, billions of dollars in assets, an unfulfilled desire for parental acceptance and the mysterious deaths haunting the family lead Sarah Booth and Tinkie into a complicated investigation. Why were Cleo and Son out on the road on a horrible, rainy night with flooding everywhere? What caused the car to crash into the river? How did the car disappear after it had been salvaged?

Another gem of a mystery by Carolyn Haines. For a review of another Carolyn Haines book -  The Book of Beloved,  click here.

Don't forget to enter for a chance to win in the first MapYourMystery giveaway.

Enter the Giveaway

Check out this giveaway thanks to Mollie Cox Bryan and Kensington Books! We will be giving away two advance reader copies of Mollie's newest book, Macrame Murder. Be sure to read my review about the book.

Can't wait for the giveaway to end on Sunday 9/10 to get a copy? You can find Mollie's books on Kensington Books' website.

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MacDeath

Shakespeare's MacBeth has been produced in many shapes and forms, but I'm willing to bet not in a circus setting. In Cindy Brown's MacDeath, Ivy Meadows tumbles into her audition and finds herself as one of the three witches in acrobatic gear.

Everyone knows about the curse - no one is supposed to utter the name of the play in the theatre. Unfortunately one of the wannabe actors says MacBeth several time. The entire cast and crew know they are in for a some mischief.

When Ivy encounters her old friend Simon Black, once a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company only to be sliding own the food chain, in the cast, she is thrilled. But Simon places a burden on her she is not sure she can manage. He has decided to give up alcohol and wants Ivy to keep an eye on him so he doesn't backslide.

Throughout the rehearsals, all seems well even with the threat of the "curse" hanging over them. The

cast as you would expect is comprised of a motley crew of characters. Genevieve Fife, known for her Method acting, is cast as Lady MacBeth. Simon is Duncan and two young men - handsome Jason as MacBeth and cute doofus Riley as MacDuff. The Face of Channel 10 news Bill Boxer and utterer of the cursed title of the play round out the cast. All are dressed in various costumes from the circus.

Before the production opens, Ivy finds Simon dead in his dressing room. All signs pointing to a relapse in drinking, but Ivy is convinced he was not drinking again and believes he was murdered. Of course no one believes her.

She tries to convince her uncle Bob, a private investigator, to investigate. As first he is reluctant, but as he finds evidence, he continues his investigation. As predicted various other mishaps occur on the stage during the performance. Secrets, lies and unintended consequences nearly bring the play to its knees until Ivy finds the murderer.

Exciting news - check out Tuesday's blog post for a chance to win in the first MapYourMystery giveaway.

Van Gogh and Me

After reading so many books for the last year to keep up with reviews on MapYourMystery.com, I reached a point where I needed something else to do on occasion. Earlier this month, I watched a Facebook event from several famous galleries hosting five Van Gogh Sunflower paintings.

Van Gogh has always held a fascination for me and when I listened to the curators talk about the five paintings, I was hooked. Just being slightly artistic (I know that's like being slightly pregnant), I decided to try my hand at paint-by- numbers. Sounds pretty easy, right.

Well let me tell you there is some skill in learning how to mix two colors so you can get the third color you need to paint and to make sure you have enough to complete the section in the painting. So today there is no book review, but my painting so far.

I'd love to hear your comments.