Reviewed By Liz

ISBN 0-451-22247-4

DEAD OF THE DAY is the third book in the Annie Seymour series. Annie is a crime reporter in New Haven, Connecticut, where she comes across an interesting corpse. The body is pulled from the river, but the man has bee stings on his stomach. In April, this is highly unusual. But Annie is quickly distracted by the shooting of the new police chief and by the appearance of an author determined to use her work life as a source of information for his new book, in spite of her objections.

Annie does her best to pursue both stories for the newspaper while juggling all the men in her life – the annoying writer, the cub reporter she alternately despises and mentors, and two semi-ex lovers. The four men take turns being underfoot and helpful allies as Annie digs out the truth about a series of seemingly unrelated crimes.

I love Annie Seymour. In Annie, Olson has crafted a fictional character that seems real and to whom the reader can relate. She is a little bit klutzy, she isn’t as nice as she should be to her junior colleague, and she swears at all the right times. She is a little burned out, but intelligent and determined to get the story. And in DEAD OF THE DAY, she is trying to swallow her pride and make up with her ex-boyfriend, but doesn’t quite know how. Annie isn’t gimmicky, she is genuine. If she were a real person, she is just the type you would want to go out for a drink with after a long day at work.

Which brings me to the odd bit about the book. DEAD OF THE DAY is part of a reality-based series and the book doesn’t benefit from having multiple serendipitous events which make the story feel less authentic. But, if you enjoy books with complicated plots that require you to set down the book periodically to make sure you have all the players and events straight in your mind, this book is right up your alley.

Favorite character? Annie. Did I guess it? No, my note cards and timeline got all scrambled up. Will I read another? Absolutely. I love the humor, good characters, and quality writing.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

Available at Amazon!

ISBN 0-451-22247-4

DEAD OF THE DAY – April has hit New Haven, Connecticut, bringing with it something less fragrant than May flowers: An unidentified body in the harbor.

The strange fact that there were bee stings on the floater gives New Haven Herald police reporter Annie Seymour an intriguing excuse to put her profile of the new police chief on hold — although the piece does become a lot more interesting when the subject is gunned down.

And this is only the beginning of a killer expose. As she connects the dots between the John Doe, police chief, and the city’s struggling immigrant population, Annie draws a line between herself and someone who doesn’t want her to learn the truth … or live to report it.

Check out Karen’s web site at www.kareneolson.com/.

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New book releases are a feature provided for our readers by reviewedbyliz, but are not written by us. Where available, the descriptions of the books are those provided by the publisher.

ISBN 0-89296-025-6

SECONDHAND SMOKE is Olson’s second book in the Annie Seymour series. Annie is a newspaper reporter in New Haven, Connecticut who is awakened early Thanksgiving morning by a fire in a restaurant across the street from her apartment. As the arson investigators try to identify the body found in the burned building, Annie struggles to investigate the story behind the fire from her close-knit neighborhood. Of mixed heritage, she is known in the neighborhood, but not trusted, and is having a hard time unearthing a story that everyone else seems to already know.

And when Annie’s casino manager father from Las Vegas, a local Mafioso, and the FBI all come to town at the same time, Annie knows the story is a big one. But she doesn’t know how deeply her father or Vinny, the man she loves, are involved in the events surrounding the fire. Both are neighborhood insiders and are trying to keep her in the dark as much as possible because they, too, don’t trust her to keep the neighborhood secrets out of the paper.

I loved SECONDHAND SMOKE. Annie is a great character who is motivated by conflicts in her life. She is bitchy to the junior reporter who shadows her because she is afraid of losing her job, she is frustrated by her successful and controlling mother who is dating Annie’s boss, and she is heartbroken because she is in love with the engaged Vinny. She is also klutzy, swears a lot, and seems like someone you would like to hang out with after work and trade stories. In short, Olson has created a true and likable character and has crafted an enjoyable and dynamic story around her.

Favorite character? Annie. Did I guess it? No. Will I read another? Absolutely.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

Available at Amazon!

Hope your reading is coming along well!

Mystery author and journalist Karen E. Olson is our featured author today. We read, loved and reviewed Karen’s first book in her Annie Seymour mystery series, SACRED COWS. Click here to read our review!

Karen is the author of the Annie Seymour mystery series. Annie Seymour is a tough-talking New Haven, Connecticut, police reporter with a self-deprecating sense of humor. Annie has been compared to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum.

The first in the series, SACRED COWS, now out in paperback, won the Sara Ann Freed Memorial Award for best debut mystery from Mysterious Press/Warner Books and was a Gumshoe Award finalist. The second, SECONDHAND SMOKE, was released in September 2006 and will be released in paperback in November. The third in the series, DEAD OF THE DAY, will be released in November as part of NAL’s new Obsidian Mysteries line.

You can find Karen E. Olson on the internet at:
http://www.kareneolson.com/

Karen shares the First Offenders Blog with fellow authors: Lori G. Armstrong, Alison Gaylin, and Jeff Shelby http://www.firstoffenders.typepad.com/

Don’t miss Karen’s next book, DEAD OF THE DAY, coming out in November, 2007.

If you haven’t signed up for the Summer Mystery Reading Challenge yet, click here for directions. You are welcome to read along on your own, of course, but only registered participants are eligible for the prizes.

If you would like to comment on a book by a featured author or ask them a question, please leave the comment on their daily page so they can find it easily. Comments about what you are reading, books you have finished, requests for readalikes or recommendations, or mystery related links can be made on the SMRC post for that day so we can all see them. Thanks!

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

ISBN 0-89296-022-1

Annie Seymour is a reporter for the New Haven Herald who gets called out in the middle of the night to cover the death of a Yale University student – a murdered student who was working for an escort service and has suddenly become a very big problem for the city, the university, the paper, and Annie.

I like stories that evolve organically, as this one does. Annie covers this story as the information is presented to her – in the real world, without prescient dreams or talkative animals – she interviews possible sources of information and one thing naturally leads to another. Annie soon finds a con man who is playing a dangerous game with some powerful people. Annie is warned off the story by the owner of her paper and her high-power lawyer mother, but is egged on by both her need to know and by a junior reporter with incredible luck and who may get the story before she does.

Along the way, we meet Annie’s cop boyfriend, the escort service manager (who thinks he could drum up some business for her if she wants a new line of work), a geek turned P.I. who she went to school with, and her mother, who is a piece of work. And the cows, but I will let you find out about those on your own.

This is a good book. It is solid, well-written, has good characters, and is enjoyable. Sacred Cows is like the meat and potatoes of mystery books. You will like it.

Favorite character? Hickey of the escort service. Did I guess it? Not all of it. Will I read another? Definitely.
Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

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