Death by Tradition

Detective Inspector Josefa Horseman is watching his Suva Shiners rugby team facing the toughest team in the area and worries about the result. In Death by Tradition by B.M. Allsopp Joe concerns are swept aside when the boys perform admirably, although they did not win, they scored and that makes them happy.

Before Joe can celebrate with the boys, he is called away to investigate the murder of a young man up in the hills in the Tanoa village. Also on Joe's agenda is some long awaited vacation time and a visit from his friend Melissa who is coming from the U.S. to the Fiji Islands. He is undecided about canceling the trip because of the investigation.

Hoping he can solve the case quickly, Joe doesn't postpone Melissa's visit but hurries up to the hills and the village. With his new assistant Tanielo Musudroka and Sgt Susie Singh, Joe begins the investigation of the murder of a young man.

Viliame was an ambitious man who worked a day job at the National Land Trust Board and

commuted back to village on weekends to maintain his nutmeg and vanilla business. He had established quite a thriving business and was able to share in the profits with his workers. Why would someone want to kill him and display his body in such a public manner?

Joe is blocked in his investigation by the elders who don't really want to cooperate with the police. The chief is focused on making amends for the murder of a missionary 100 years ago. He has invited the missionary's descendants to the village for a ceremony showing their remorse.

When another death occurs, Joe is in a race to find the killer and salvage some of his vacation time with Melissa.

I enjoy this series because of the exotic locale and portrayal of life in a Fijian village, a series steeped with tradition. 

Shattered at Sea

Glass shop owner Savannah Webb has a change of venue and spends a week on board a cruise ship. In Shattered at Sea by Cheryl Hollon, Savannah and Edward are heading to the Mediterranean after a visit with his parents. Lucky Savannah has been hired to do glassblowing demonstrations on the ship. (Shattered at Sea will be released on August 28.) 

It has been a while since she has actually blown glass, but that doesn't deter her. After a few practice tries, Savannah is able to produce some interesting pieces that will be auctioned at the end of the cruise. Trying to get the hang of the delicate art on a moving ship seems to be only one of the issues she has to deal with.

The second is the disappearance of Edward's cousin Ian after the first night of the cruise. The security staff are not too worried as they think Ian hooked up with a woman and will surface in his own time. After several days of no sight of Ian, Savannah becomes more worried especially as she discovers Ian was taking anti-depressant medication and has not been taking it.

Could he have jumped off the ship or is something else going on?

Suspicion turns toward Edward, but Savannah cannot believe her boyfriend could be involved in his cousin's disappearance. She doubles down on her investigation.

When Edward reveals some difficult things from his youth, Savannah starts to piece together what may have happened to Ian and it might include someone on the ship.

Someday I would love to be a a cruise shop with glass blowing demonstrations. I can only hope Savannah shows up on one of my cruises.

Purchase link

Congratulations to the Winner

Della Williamson from Lebanon, Oregon is the winner of Custom Baked Murder and the doggie cookie cutters. Dogs treats not included. 

The Masterpiece

A wonderful blending of two eras in the life of Grand Central Terminal. Fiona Davis skillfully weaves the story of two women into The Masterpiece. (The Masterpiece will be published n August 8.)

One begins in 1924 when the Grand Central School of Art was formed. Few women were able to teach but Clara Darden, an illustrator breaks through. She becomes a successful illustrator for Vogue until the Depression hits.

Clara finds herself attracted to two men: poet and wealthy scion of New York society Oliver Smith and  Art School genius and flamboyant artist Levon Zakarian. Oliver introduces her to the right people and her career as an illustrator begins to blossom. As her career blooms, Oliver still refuses to publish any of his poems, dedicating all his energy to her illustrations.

Fast forward to the 1970s when it won’t be long until the wrecking ball tumbles down the illustrious building. Working at the information booth in a rundown Grand Central Terminal, newly divorced Virginia Clay tries to find her way. The staff at the information booth are a motley crew of dedicated Grand Centralers and they include Terrence and Totto, who look enough alike to be brothers, Winston, the southern gentleman and Doris, crabby and nasty.

On her break while wandering the upper floors, Virginia stumbles on the former Grand Central School of Art and finds a watercolor painting with Clara Darden's signature. Intrigued by this, she tries to discover what had become of Clara.

Although a plan has been developed to demolish Grand Central and build a skyscraper, Virginia falls in love with the building and joins the fight to save the station. Along the way she discovers she is fighting along Jackie Kennedy Onassis who was a leader in the fight.

Following her investigation into the art of Clara Darden, she uncovers some startling information about the artist and her friend Levon Zakarian.

An intriguing adventure with a beautifully blended story from two different eras in the history of Grand Central.

Purchase link 

Interview with Laura DiSilverio

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

My newest published book is That Last Weekend. I have 21 published books.

How did you develop your character and choose your location?
I develop my characters and choose my locations differently with each novel. It depends on what the book is about, and what kind of book it is. Mostly, I prefer to use locations that I'm familiar with (and I'm familiar with a lot since I grew up in an Air Force family and then spent 20 years as an Air Force officer) because I'm lazy and don't want to have to do a lot of research. :-)

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?
Writing is my job, so I get up every morning, take a walk, eat breakfast, and sit down at my desk. I write at least 2000 words a day when I'm drafting, and then I work on the business end of things, like doing blog posts, newsletters, social media stuff, etc.

Do you belong to a writers group or are you in touch with other writers? How does that help your writing?
I'm a member of Sisters in Crime (and former President of the organization), and a founding member of Career Authors.com, a blog for writers, so I'm in touch with other writers frequently. I also exchange critiques with a writer friend. It helps me to have someone to bounce ideas off of, and also to realize that everyone struggles with every book, no matter how many books they've published, or how experiences they are.

Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
I do not model my characters off of myself of anyone I know. I might use a gesture I've observed from someone, and verbal tics from someone else, but I don't ever base a character on a real person.

If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
If the book I'm working on now, The Empty Nesters Club, were to be made into a movie, I'd want Amy Poehler to play Samantha, Jason Bateman to be Elliott, Allison Janney to be June, and Zoe Saldana to be Coral. Dream casting!

Who is your favorite author?
John Steinbeck.

How do you keep track of character details from book to book so they are consistent?
I use a different notebook for every book, and I keep track of character details in there. Each main character gets a few pages when I first start developing the book, and I go back to the notebook when I get halfway through the manuscript and can't remember if my character had blue eyes or brown eyes, or if her first husband was named Zach or Zeke--stuff like that.

If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
I'd be an event organizer if I couldn't be an author, or maybe a personal trainer. I'd like to have more people contact than I have as a writer, but I'd like to keep a semi-flexible schedule, too.

Against the Claw

Still home in Mystic Bay, Connecticut recuperating from ankle injury, dancer Allie Larkin helps out at her aunt's popular lobster shack, the Lazy Mermaid. In Against the Claw by Shari Randall, life is anything but leisurely along the Connecticut coast.

On one of the days she is out on the water collecting lobsters with Bertha, they find a body of a young woman. With no identification, it is difficult for the police to find out who she is. No one seems to have any idea who she was or where she went into the water.

In the meantime, Stellene Lupo, the owner of a large modeling agency in New York, who owns a house in Mystic Bay, wants Aunt Gully to cater a special event for her.  Although Aunt Gully doesn't usually cater, she ropes her nieces into helping out. Preparations are underway, but Allie wants to keep her hand in performing. She takes a small, non-dancing role in an experimental production called Ondine with a mystery guest as the lead singer.

Excitement builds as the Lupo 4th of July party draws closer and the opening of Ondine nears. Everyone is trying to guess which famous guests will be at the party. Even Allie is excited except when she discovers her sister Lorel is back with her bad-news boyfriend Patrick, owner of New Salt, a bar/restaurant rumored to be involved with selling drugs. Trying not to get into an argument with her sister, Allie throws herself into the catering event and her role in the performance. In the back of her mind she wonders who the drowned woman was.

The night before the party, Allie overhears Lorel and Patrick having a huge argument and breaking up again. Relieved, but feeling sorry for her sister, she stays busy with the party preparation. When the evening of the party arrives, Allie and Lorel head to the house to help with the party. Later in the evening someone is found dead and there are only four suspects: Allie, Lorel, and two guests.

A very enjoyable second book in The Lobster Shack Mystery series. Looking forward to my trip to Boston (sadly not the Mermaid Lobster Shack) for lobster rolls.

Purchase link 

Close Call

A mix-up with cell phones throws Sidney Ellison into the path of a hired killer. In Close Call by Laura DiSilverio, Sidney doesn't realize she has the wrong phone until she receives a call confirming a hit on a Senate candidate. (Close Call will be published in September.)

Paralyzed with fear and the memories of her past political shaming, she decides not to mention the call to anyone. Unfortunately "the client" and the hitman discover their mistake and decide to eliminate Sidney Ellison. This leads to a tragic case of mistaken identity and forces Sidney into the public eye once again.

As a college student fifteen years ago, she was involved in an affair with the Speaker of the House in Washington and suffered through the infamy that caused. Her father, a successful lawyer, had a debilitating stroke as a result of the scandal and her sister was the reporter who broke the story.

She tries to contact the Congressman who is running for Senate, Fidel Montoya, but he recognizes

her name and thinks she is trying to undermine his campaign. Frustrated by his refusal to listen, she soon discovers someone was murdered in her townhouse, execution style.

Chilled to the bone, she learns it was her fiance Jason and Sidney is sure the hit was meant for her - a case of mistaken identify. As she pulls at a thread to try to unravel the murder, more and more strange events begin to occur leading to a startling conclusion.

An excellent mystery with just the right amount of twists and turns.

Purchase link 

Read Herring Hunt

When North Harbor, Michigan football star Dawson Alexander’s girlfriend Melody is found strangled and he is arrested, mystery book store owner Samantha Washington decides to investigate. In Read Herring Hunt by V.M. Burns, Dawson is more than just an employee to Dawson, her rents his small apartment above the shop from her and bakes goodies for her mystery bookstore.

Melody was known as a “honey trap” around the campus because she latched on to athletes with potential. Dawson, finally seeing the light, decides to break up with her. Unfortunately she lashes out and scratches his face. When she is found dead, the police turn right to him as a suspect.

Sam enlists her aggressive lawyer sister Jenna to defend Dawson.  Along with her grandmother Nana Jo and the “girls” from the Sleuthing Senior Book Club, Sam tries to prove Dawson is innocent. 

While she worries about Dawson, Sam finds time to work on her

second novel set in the English countryside between the world wars. In it someone tries to murder the Duchess of Windsor, better known as the American divorcee Wallis Simpson and wife of abdicated King Edward VII. Sam has been afraid to send the first novel she has written, but decides to keep writing just in case she changes her mind about submitting it.

In her own life, Sam is still mourning the death of her husband, but her grandmother is aiming to get her to start dating again. Two candidates include British professor Harley Quin and restaurant owner Frank Patterson. 

The fun subplot of Sam's novel makes this an entertaining mystery inside another mystery. 

Purchase link

Widows of Malabar Hill

An excellent book with a insider’s look at India in the 1920s. Perveen Mistry wants to study law but law schools did not admit women. In The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey, she persuades the law school to let her take classes without being admitted but the men in the class force her to quit.

In an act of defiance, she falls in love with a man who her parents do not know and suffers through a terrible marriage before she returns home. On her return, her parents send her to England where graduates from Oxford. She returns to Bombay several years later to work for her father’s firm. Because she is a woman and can meet with the cloistered widows, she is assigned a case that deals with three Muslim widows married to the same man.

When Perveen examines the will, she notices that all three widows have signed over their entire inheritance to a charity. Positive the women are being swindled, especially as one is obviously illiterate as
she signed with an X, she tries to determine who is trying to steal from them. Is it the male guardian or someone else?

When there is a murder in the secluded house, Perveen finds herself in the middle of the investigation. Because of her own personal history, she is dedicated to assisting women.

A beautifully written book and an intriguing look at the sheltered life of these women and the murder that threatens them.

Purchase link

Interview with Victoria Gilbert

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

My most recent book is Shelved Under Murder  (July 10). It is the second book in my Blue Ridge Library Mystery series. The first book, A Murder for the Books, was published in Dec. 2017 and the third book (which I have already written), Past Due for Murder, will be released in Feb., 2019. This series is published by Crooked Lane Books.

That means I have published two mysteries (as of July). However, I also published a few other books in another genre (and under a different author name) so overall, I’ve had seven books published, small press and indie releases included.

How did you develop your character and choose your location?
My characters tend to develop as I’m writing the books. I have a general sense of who they are before I begin, and I do map out their life histories prior to writing, but the true essence of their personalities doesn’t become clear until I write about them. Sometimes they surprise me by turning out a little (or a lot) different than I’d originally planned!

My setting for the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series is based on the area where I grew up—in a small, historic, town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Virginia. I chose this location because it was not only something I knew well; it also lent itself to incorporating historical elements into my contemporary stories.

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? 
For me it varies, depending upon where I am in the writing process. If I am planning a book, or doing initial drafting, I may only work on any particular book for a few hours a day. Since I’ve retired from my previous full-time career as a librarian, I spend the rest of the day doing regular chores, like cooking, gardening, and cleaning, as well as working on writing-related things such as my social media outreach, general book promotion, critiquing for my author friends, and so on.

However, once I am deep into writing the book, and especially if a deadline looms ominously, I tend to concentrate only on the writing. At that point I may be writing and/or revising eight hours a day or more. (So not much else gets done!)

I don’t write a certain number of words a day. I find that I do better when I set page or chapter goals rather than word goals. I try to write at least half a chapter a day when I am drafting, which translates into around five to seven pages. At that rate, and including time for edits and revisions, I can complete a manuscript in approximately five to six months.

Do you belong to a writers group or are you in touch with other writers? How does that help your writing?
Yes, I belong to my local chapter of Sisters-in-Crime and attend their meetings once a month. I also attended Malice Domestic back in April—that’s a big conference focused on cozy and light mysteries—and will be attending the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in September. I meet numerous authors through these events. I find it’s always helpful to talk about the writing process with other professionals, as I’m continually learning more from their unique skill-sets and experiences.

I also belong to Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers, but so far have only connected with my fellow members in those organizations online.

I have two wonderful critique partners, Richard Taylor Pearson and Lindsey Duga. We’ve worked together for several years now reading and critiquing each other’s’ works, as well as providing support throughout our writing journeys. Although we all write in different genres, I learn a lot from just critiquing their (wonderful) books.

Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
No, I actually try very hard NOT to do this. Of course, I draw on my background and experiences to portray certain things, such as library work and small-town settings, but I deliberately make my characters their own unique selves. I do incorporate traits and characteristics from people I’ve known, as well as my own knowledge on certain topics, but no character is exactly modeled after a specific person.

If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
I really can’t answer that question, for a good reason—Sony Pictures Television has optioned A Murder for the Books and Shelved Under Murder and, if a production goes forward based on my books, I’d rather not go on record with my own personal picks. I prefer to allow the production team to decide who would be best actor/actress for any of the roles.

Who is your favorite author?
This is an impossible question! I love so many different authors, for different reasons. So I’ll just list a few (in no particular order): John Crowley, Dorothy Dunnett, Anne Tyler, all the Brontes, C.S. Lewis, Josephine Tey, Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, R.A. MacAvoy, John le Carre, and Mary Stewart.

How do you keep track of character details from book to book so they are consistent?
Files and notebooks! I create and maintain a lot of information on the characters, such as ages, family trees, relationship connections, and so on. Because my books include references to historical elements as well as contemporary events, I have to be particularly diligent about keeping the age charts and “relationship trees” accurate.

If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
I just retired from a thirty-year career as a professional librarian, so… Animal rescuer, maybe? I’d love to have a set-up where I could take-in rescued animals and find them new homes. Or professional traveler? Of course, if I had the money, I would do both!