The Night Olivia Fell

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A mother’s worst nightmare - a phone call in the middle of the night. In The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald Abi Knight learns her daughter Olivia fell off a bridge and is brain dead. Worse yet she is pregnant.

As Abi rushes to the hospital she wonders what else she doesn't know about daughter. Although there are bruises on her wrist, the police believe Olivia fell accidentally and they don't appear to investigate too thoroughly. Also missing is a charm bracelet Olivia always wore. This causes Abi to believe someone pushes Olivia, but she cannot get the police to budge. Abi’s life turns upside as she tries to figure out what happened to her daughter and who the baby’s father is.

While Olivia was growing up, Abi had secrets of her own including who her daughter's father was. When Olivia asked, Abi told her he had died in a car accident. In reality he was someone who paid her to have an abortion and threatened her. She fled Seattle and never made contact with him again. 

Through a total coincidence while on a college visit to the University of Washington in Seattle, Olivia catches a glimpse of a young woman around her own age who looks almost exactly like her. Even her friends comment on the resemblance. When Olivia tracks her down on Facebook she makes plans to meet her and soon discovers Kendall's father is state senator Gavin Montgomery. Their uncanny resemblance leads Olivia in one direction - to her father. 

The story is told through flashbacks so we learn more about the devastating lies and hidden secrets that impacted their lives as Abi tries to unravel the truth surrounding her daughter's fall. 

 An emotionally heartbreaking story, but with some hope for the future.

Charity's Burden

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Frightening parallels to today's fight for women's reproductive rights. Quaker midwife Rose Carroll tries to help women plan their children and space them out a little. In Charity's Burden by Edith Maxwell one of Charity's clients is in distress in what seems like an early miscarriage. Rose rushes to Charity Skells side but soon realizes she is in serious condition. (Charity's Burden will be release on April 8 by Midnight Ink and is available for pre-order.)

When the autopsy reveals Charity died from a perforated uterus that could have been as a result of a botched mechanical abortion or intentional murder, Rose is determined to discover the truth.

There are plenty of suspects including Charity's husband Ransom who has been known to keep company with a woman at his job. There are also two practitioners of herbal remedies for women who have less than stellar backgrounds. And one of Charity's cousins seems to be up to no good.

On the home front Rose's fiance David cannot seem to convince his mother to give her blessing for

their marriage. This has taken a toll on Rose, especially now as her young niece Faith is about to marry Zeb. She is thrilled for her niece, but quietly saddened because of her situation. That doesn't stop Rose from continuing her investigation.

When on a dark night, her carriage is forced off the road and she has to tramp back home in the dark, Rose begins to wonder whether she is on the right track in her investigation. Along with police detective Kevin Donovan, they try to unravel Charity's mysterious death.

Rose and the real women who performed midwife duties during this era were heroic women in a difficult time. Unfortunately the burden of birth control fell on women who were ill-equipped to deal with it. Another stellar book from Edith Maxwell.

Bones Behind the Wheel

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What would it be like for some people in the family to see ghosts and others to not be able to see them? This is what life is like in Alison Kirby's New Jersey seashore guest house. I'll bet that's a fun household in which to live. By the way did you know the National Language of New Jersey is Sarcasm? Now you do.

In Bones Behind the Wheel by E.J. Copperman, it's the offseason on the Jersey shore. Alison discovers a crew moving sand to prevent shoreline erosion in her back yard. Suddenly they hit something metal and a 1977 Lincoln Continental sedan complete with a skeleton behind the wheel is unearthed.

Living with ghosts, especially one who was a private investigator, prepares Alison for her calm demeanor toward the discovery. When the sedan disappears that night then reappears in the hole again the next night, Alison's temper starts to flare.

Using the ghosternet, Paul and Maxie, two of the ghosts, try to figure out who the victim was. Declining to be involved in this investigation, Alison soon realizes her new husband Josh has caught the detecting fever, even though
he cannot hear or see the ghosts.

What's a girl to do when everyone around her is involved in the case. When she finds a giant emerald and some bullets in her ceiling and a gun in a hole under her refrigerator, she's involved reluctantly.

Laugh out loud funny antics with the ghosts and the police detective who refuses to enter the house because of the ghosts.

Interview with Kathleen Ernst

What is the title of your newest book? How many books have you published?
My newest book is The Lacemaker's Secret: A Chloe Ellefson Mystery (Midnight Ink, 2018). It's the 9th book in the series, and my 37th published book! It took me a long time to hone my craft well enough to break in, so I find that number a bit astounding.

Why is your book set in 1983? How did you develop your character and choose your location?
I am passionate about historic places and objects, and the stories they can tell. I worked as a curator of interpretation and collections at a large historic site in Wisconsin in the 1980s and 1990s, and after I moved on, discovered that I missed the museum world. Chloe Ellefson is a fictional character, but she works at the same historic site where I once did. She also travels to other museums and historic sites as the series progresses. One of my primary goals for the series was to celebrate special historic places and stories.

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I chose to set the series in the 1980s for several reasons. First, I'm writing from memory. My own museum career began in 1982, so that's what I know. The sites world and curatorial work is very different today.

Second, since I write about real places, I like to put some distance between my fictional murder and mayhem and readers' modern experiences at any of the features historic sites.

Third, the 1980s setting means Chloe has to rely on her own skills and training to find answers and get out of trouble. She can't whip out her cell phone and call for help or search for information!

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?
I have been a full-time writer for over a decade. That means I spend more time on the writing business than I do actually writing the books. Mornings and evenings are usually spent answering correspondence, preparing programs, writing blog posts, etc. Also, I often travel to make presentations at libraries or conduct research for upcoming books. I try to get some solid writing time in every afternoon. I'm not rigid about word count, but in general aim to produce between 1,000 and 2,000 words a day. It goes more slowly at the beginning of the process.

I also take week-long writing retreats several times a year, holing up in some quiet location with my laptop. Those weeks are tremendously productive, and make it possible for me to meet deadlines.

Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
Superficially, Chloe and I have a lot in common. She has a job I used to have, she rented the farmhouse I once rented, she went to college where I did, etc. However, Chloe is definitely a fictional character, created to serve the stories.

None of my characters were developed to represent any single real person. Ralph Petty, Chloe's boss, is an amalgamation of every bad boss I've ever had--plus some of my friends' bad bosses too. Spending time with police officers helped me create Roelke McKenna, local cop and Chloe's love interest. I knew very little about police work before starting the series, and so am very grateful to the officers who have let me shadow them.

If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
That's a delightful question! I think, though, that I would prefer unknown actors to play Chloe and Roelke. Readers have their own image of these characters, and it might be jarring to have a famous star in the roles. (I know, I should be so lucky!)

Who is your favorite author?
Oh dear, so many to choose from. I don't think I can pick one mystery author. Favorites outside the genre include Barbara Kingsolver and poets Ted Kooser and Mary Oliver.

If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
Abigail Adams, Harriet Tubman, Olympia Brown, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart.

If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
My undergraduate degree was in environmental education, and I'd be delighted to work again for a park or historic site. But I wouldn't stop writing!

Trouble on the Books

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Shelby Cox returns to her hometown of Alexandria Bay in the beautiful Thousand Islands area of New York after living in Boston for most of her life. In Trouble on the Books by Essie Long, Shelby finds herself as a part owner of Bayside Books with her aunt Edie. One of the book stores is located in a Castle on Blye Island.

Gearing up for the tourist season and getting to know the Castle book store, Shelby encounters town pain in the behind Loreena Swan, also curator of exhibits at the Blye Castle. Not ready to be bossed around by someone with no experience in book stores, Shelby and Loreena do not hit it off the first time they meet.

Days later when Shelby founds Loreena's body in the nearby grotto, she is worried about the island caretaker Matthew Kessler as he has had varied negative encounters with Loreena. Shelby gets it into her head that Loreena's death was related to smuggling especially as she encounters Coast Guard investigator Zack Griffin.

With all this going on Shelby is having a hard time getting a straight answer from her aunt about her mother's death. Every time she brings it up, Edie changes
the subject. Before her father died, she was not able to get a straight answer out of him either and this is frustrating Shelby.

When the sheriff considers Matthew as a person of interest in the murder, Shelby buckles down and searches for clues to clear him, but naturally puts herself in danger.

The first in a new series by Essie Lang AKA Linda Wiken. I would love to visit the Thousand Islands and a castle bookstore sounds fantastic.

Hollywood Ending

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I know, I know, Kellye Garrett won the Agatha for Best First Novel last year at Malice Domestic and now her third book is nearly ready for publication. I've finally gotten around to reading one of her books and I am happy I did.

Hollywood Ending continues the pursuit of quirky former actress Dayna Anderson to become a private detective. First of all she has to convince her boss Aubrey Adams-Parker to get his license. Once a spokesperson for Chubby's Chicken, she now spends her time calling the LAPD Tip Line.

When Hollywood publicist Lyla Davis is shot at an ATM after the Silver Sphere Cocktail party, Dayna or Day as she likes to be called, is sure she can solve the mystery. With the assistance of her computer nerd friend Emme to search for background information, Day is off and running.

Because her boyfriend, actor Omari Grant was in the ATM before Lyla was shot, Day feels he might have seen something. With only the fuzzy photo from the ATM  camera to go on, Day has her pal Emme try to get more detail from the photo. When they finally see a glimpse of a recognizable tattoo, they try to track down the alleged killer.

The plot becomes more complicated when the tattooed man kills himself. But that doesn't satisfy Day so she keeps pursuing the case. What she finds is back-stabbing Hollywood gossip, treacherous publicists and duplicitous actors.

A funny, insider's look at Hollywood and the awards industry.

Something Read, Something Dead

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Lucy Richardson's cousin Josie is finally getting married in what she hopes will be a small, simple wedding. In Something Read, Something Dead by Eva Gates that is not to be. With the wedding only one month away, Lucy keeps prodding Josie to purchase her dress. (Something Read, Something Dead will be released on March 13 by Crooked Lane) 

Some of the details have been arranged including a reception at Jake's restaurant, an Outer Banks favorite. When Josie's demanding grandmother arrives from New Orleans with her entourage in tow, she sets Josie's already frayed nerves on fire. It's her plan to help her granddaughter Mirabelle, a would-be wedding planning, plan Josie's wedding in a more extravagant manner, something Josie is dead set against.

Mirabelle aims high. She wants the wedding to be on the cover of a regional magazine, but Josie wants no part of it. She badgers Josie at her shop and it evolves into a shouting match with Josie threatening to "kill her." Worse yet, Mirabelle declares she is gluten-free and requires special treats for the shower.

At the bridal shower in the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, Lucy is trying to keep everyone from each other's throats and temper the extravagant plans so they are more in line with Josie and Jake's original plans. When Mirabelle falls ill at the shower and dies the next day, the state police are called in to investigate and that makes everyone more nervous.

Was someone targeting Mirabelle or was Josie the main target? Lucy tries to keep the tabloid journalists at bay while she figures out how the crime was committed and how to keep the wedding on track.

Love the lighthouse library and wish it were a real place.

The Puppy who Knew Too Much

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Leaving Indiana after the murder of her husband, Lilly Echosby moves to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to live near her long-time friend Dixie Jefferson. In The Puppy Who Knew Too Much by V.M. Burns, Lilly hopes her troubles are behind her and her only problem will be training her new poodle Aggie.

When a strange woman approaches Lilly and Dixie about renting her son's house, Lilly jumps in. Even though she has shown no credit history or any background check, Jo Ellen Hansen offers Lilly a one-year lease. Lilly quickly moves in and prepares to join the community. Her first encounter leads her into a confrontation with one of her neighbors.

Next day while walking her dog, Aggie begins sniffing around a tree but doesn't want to be drawn away. As Lilly gets closer, she realizes Aggie has unearthed a shoe attached to a dead man. When the body is identified as Jo Ellen Hansen's son Robert, Lilly begins to worry about her ability to stay in the house.

Lilly's daughter Stephanie and her police officer boyfriend Joe plan to stay with Lilly while she gets settled in. Lucky for her because the next day someone breaks in and ransacks the house. Joe calls in a favor from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and they send Dennis Olson to join the case.

Not one to sit idly by and let someone else investigate, Lilly, Dixie and Stephanie decide to figure out who killed Robert Hanson and what they wanted from Lilly's house. Meanwhile Lilly has been hired by the Chattanooga Museum of Art to untangle the financial mess left by the scion of wealthy donors The Hopewells. Freemont Hopewell takes an instant shine to Lilly and begins deluging her with flowers. She is flattered at first, but wonders what his game is.

I have read other books by V.M. Burns and find them entertaining. This book is the second in the Dog Club Mysteries and I found the characters to be realistic and likable. Plus I learned some dog training tips even though I do not have a dog.

Interview with Michael Robertson

What is the title of your newest book? How many books have you published?

The most recent is A Baker Street Wedding (Dec. 2018). There are six books total in the Baker Street Letters series. Although I do my best to make each stand alone, when people ask where to start, I generally suggest The Brothers of Baker Street, because it includes all the back story that is referenced in the later books, and it introduces a Moriarty plot line that I don't want people to miss. But another (and quicker, if you are looking for a short read) entry to the series is my short story, The Barrister's Clerk (available as an online single at Amazon, and in printed form in the Malice Domestic #13 anthology, "Mystery Most Geographical".

How did you develop your character and choose your location?
The location--the Marylebone district in London, and more specifically Baker Street, and even more specifically the 200 block of Baker Street--chose itself. The series unavoidably begins in an office building that occupies the space where 221B would have been when the Sherlock Holmes Stories were written--and where, until just a few years ago, the Royal Mail did in fact deliver letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes.

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?
Back in the day, I would write late at night, after work. But staying up until 2:00 AM became hard to maintain, so for the past ten years or so--which is to say, for the whole length of the Baker Street Letters series--I've done my writing in the early morning and then again in the early afternoon. When I was still working full-time for IBM (up until about five years ago), I did most of my writing in coffee shops, one on the way to work, and another on lunch break. I no longer have to follow that schedule, but it has become habit, so it is what I still do.

Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
The female lead in the series (the actress Laura Rankin) is a composite of several women I've known over the years. The two male leads--brothers Reggie and Nigel Heath, with their sibling rivalries--I suppose are drawn very loosely from myself and my own three siblings.

An additional male lead, introduced in The Baker Street Jurors and taking a larger role in A Baker Street Wedding, is a fellow named Sigerson, who plays the violin for tips in the London underground. I think the source of inspiration for him will be pretty much self-evident.

If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
My first agent at WME said she imagined Colin Firth in the lead role (as barrister Reggie Heath). The first book was optioned for a series by Warner Brothers Television back in 2009, and a pilot was written, but not produced. I've always seen it as a film franchise rather than TV series, and I agree with the choice of Colin Firth if someone comes along to produce the movie.

Who is your favorite author?
Mark Twain generally; Dashiell Hammett for mystery novels; and a tie between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir John Mortimer for mystery short stories.

If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
Not to be evasive, but I actually don't do dinner parties. I'd have to consult with a friend of mine and see who she suggests.

If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
In real life, I suppose I would have finished law school and gone on from there. But in my fantasy life, I would like to be a wildlife photographer. I like the hiking and exploring, and I'm capable of sitting still and staring at something for long periods of time to get the effect that I want. But I just never could understand shutter speeds and exposures.

Nearly Nero

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Nearly Nero by Loren D. Estleman tells the story of  "The Adventures of Claudius Lyon, the Man Who Would Be Wolfe."

Nero Wolfe has always been a favorite of mine and Nearly Nero had me laughing out loud. Claudius Lyon, a rotund wannabe fancies himself Brooklyn's version of Nero Wolfe. His go-to guy is Arnie Woodbine, and if you say it fast enough it sounds like Archie Goodwin. His chef produces only kosher foods, some of which are nonrecognizable, and practically inedible.

Best of all, while Wolfe raises difficult to grow orchids, Lyon raises tomatoes - not so difficult to grow! Oh yes and Lyon doesn't have a private detective's license, so he cannot accept a fee for his services or Captain Stoddard of the Brooklyn police will try to arrest him. No problem, Claudius is independently wealthy from an invention created by his father.

In this collection of short stories, even if you are diehard fan of

Nero Wolf, you will laugh at the parallels and contrasts. I have always loved the Nero Wolfe books, but Nearly Nero is such a fun parody. Although it helps if you have read some of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books, Nearly Nero is fun even to a novice.

The mysteries are mostly brainteasers (no murders) and the most trouble Claudius and Arnie get into is keeping Stoddard from arresting them for practicing without a license.

If you need a laugh in these gloomy, snowy winter days, Nearly Nero is the book for you.