Reviewed By Liz

Today’s featured author is Gwen Freeman. Gwen is the author of MURDER… SUICIDE… WHATEVER, a humorous, traditional locked door mystery set in L.A. and peopled with quirky characters. It is the first book in the Fifi Cutter series and was nominated for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2006. Which is no surprise to me – I loved the book!

“When Bosco, my freeloading brother–make that half brother–showed up on my front porch, I should have followed my first instinct and slammed the door. But he said Uncle Ted had been murdered and there might be money in it for us. Truthfully? I didn’t even know we had an Uncle Ted.”

You can find Gwen Freeman on the web at http://gwenfreeman.com/book.html. You can read a sample chapter of MURDER… SUICIDE… WHATEVER and check out her next book, LIFE’S A TRIAL.

You can read Julia Buckley’s interview with Gwen at juliabuckley.blogspot.com . And you can read our review of MURDER… SUICIDE… WHATEVER here.

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 978-0-425-21474-9

In DEADLY ADVICE, Dr. Rebecca Butterman is a clinical psychologist who keeps wondering what she could have done differently, what signs she should have seen that her next door neighbor was suicidal. Rebecca comes home one evening to find the police removing the body of her neighbor, Madeline, who has been dead for two days. Rebecca is filled with guilt and starts to question herself. When her neighbor’s mother asks for her help in proving her daughter didn’t kill herself, Rebecca is easy prey for her manipulation and is enlisted for the task.

What she discovers is that Madeline had an active and potentially dangerous social life. Rebecca combines her research for a magazine article on dating with her investigation of Madeline’s activities in the local singles’ scene. She is horrified by the chances that Madeline took and begins to question whether her death was actually a suicide. Madeline’s brother, the police, and Rebecca’s friends all try to get her to stop digging into Madeline’s life, but Rebecca is driven by guilt, mounting evidence, and a growing list of potential murderers.

A significant portion of DEADLY ADVICE is about psychology and therapy, which I was afraid might be grating, but didn’t turn out to be. Through Rebecca, Isleib (a clinical psychologist) imparts some interesting information about grief, loss, and divorce – all without sounding too preachy or overwhelming the reader. And she makes it a little funny, too, when Rebecca is having problems with her own therapist as she tries to sort out her feelings of abandonment. By the end of the book, the reader is left wondering if Rebecca mightn’t have more problems than her patients.

Unfortunately, this emphasis on the psychological aspect means that there isn’t as much plot development as I would like. Isleib develops an interesting list of suspects and motives, but no real evidence is unearthed and Rebecca stumbles across the identity of the murder instead of solving it. While this has become a popular ending technique, it isn’t very rewarding for the reader.

Favorite character? Harry the hopeful dater. Did I guess it? Yes. Will I read another? Perhaps. I am definitely going to try Isleib’s other mystery series about golf.

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

Available at Amazon!

Rhys Bowen is today’s featured author. With seventeen books under her belt, she isn’t a new author, but she was new to me until recently. I very much enjoyed both her Constable Evans and Molly Murphy characters. And a lot of others have, too, because Rhys has been nominated for every major mystery award and won seven.

Rhys is starting a new series with the book HER ROYAL SPYNESS, which is described as a humorous, historical cozy.

If you liked Bridget Jones…
If you adore royal scandals…
If you loved Charade and a touch of danger…
A sexy hero who is not quite trustworthy…
And you love to laugh…
Then you’ll want to read Rhys’s new venture:

HER ROYAL SPYNESS

Georgie, aka Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, cousin of King George V of England, is penniless and trying to survive on her own as an ordinary person in London in 1932.

So far she has managed to light a fire and boil an egg…
She’s gate-crashed a wedding…
She’s making money by secretly cleaning houses…
And she’s been asked to spy for Her Majesty the Queen.

Everything seems to be going swimmingly until she finds a body in her bathtub and someone is definitely trying to kill her.

IN DUBLIN’S FAIR CITY is the most recent Molly Murphy book. Molly risks traveling back to Ireland on what seems to be a simple assignment to find the long lost sister of a theater impresario. But things start to go wrong when Molly is persuaded to change cabins with a famous actress and the actress’s maid is found murdered. And the actress’s luggage is full of guns. Once in Ireland Molly finds herself caught up in the freedom movement and a dangerous mission of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

EVANLY BODIES is the most recent Constable Evans book. Evan’s wife Bronwen befriends Pakistani teenager Jamila. When Jamila comes to them, distraught because she has found out about an arranged marriage for her in Pakistan, Bronwen tries to intervene. Then Jamila vanishes.

At work Evan is facing three baffling murders—three very different men, each shot through an open window. In his hunt for a serial killer, Evan stumbles upon a link with Jamila bringing disastrous consequences for all involved.

Rhys Bowen can be found on the internet at www.rhysbowen.com and at The Lady Killers, a blog she shares with Lyn Hamilton, Mary Anna Evans, Cara Black and Jane Finnis. Be sure to check out her appearance schedule at her web site as she is hosting a series of Royal Teas at various bookstores.

You can read my reviews of DEATH OF RILEY and EVANLY BODIES.

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

Today’s featured author is Sue Ann Jaffarian, whose series features Odelia Grey, a middle-aged, plus size, paralegal as a humorous amateur sleuth. The books take place in Orange County, California and are “soft-boiled” mysteries.

In THE CURSE OF THE HOLY PAIL, just hours after a meeting with plus-size paralegal Odelia Grey, Sterling Price, a long-time client and lunchbox collector, is found murdered in his spacious office suite. Missing is the jewel of his collection, a lunchbox nicknamed The Holy Pail, worth a small fortune and rumored to be cursed. Despite her protests, everyone believes Odelia has the missing lunchbox; a possibility shared by Detective Devon Frye and attorney Michael Steele after Odelia’s law firm is vandalized. Determined to prove them wrong, Odelia embarks upon an investigation of her own into the history of The Holy Pail, including the background of its previous owners, all reportedly dead.

In the first Odelia Grey mystery, TOO BIG TO MISS, Odelia’s tiny world of contented boredom is rocked by the news that her friend Sophie London has committed suicide by putting a gun into her mouth and pulling the trigger. To add to the shock, Sophie’s final actions were viewed on the Internet by dozens of people via a web camera. To Odelia it did not make sense. Sophie was a survivor, a beacon of light to women of size, not a despondent victim. Teamed with Greg Stevens, a handsome paraplegic who witnessed the death, Odelia sets out to investigate the truth. But one revelation follows another as she uncovers Sophie’s very private past.

I was tickled pink when I picked up THE CURSE OF THE HOLY PAIL and you can read my review here. TOO BIG TO MISS was recently named a semi-finalist in the Reader Views Literary Awards and the Independent Publisher Awards (IPPY). The third Odelia Grey book, recently re-named THUGS ‘N KISSES, will be released in February 2008, and Midnight Ink has contracted for 3 more Odelia Grey novels following that. Thank goodness!

You can find Sue Ann Jaffarian on the internet at sueannjaffarian.com or on her blog at sueannjaffarian.blogspot.com.

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 1-880284-79-0

In CRIMSON SNOW, Hilda Johansson is pressured by her brother Erik to look into the disappearance of his sixth-grade teacher. Hilda is an immigrant from Sweden and is now a maid at the Studebaker mansion in South Bend, Indiana, in the year 1904. But she has also had success at solving mysteries, and when the body of the young teacher is found in a shed near her rooming house, first Erik and then a friend of the Studebakers ask her to help find the killer. Since the Studebakers are willing to give her time off from her job to investigate, she can’t really say no.

In addition to investigating the murder, Hilda is trying to sort out her own life. Her job is very demanding and is made worse when the butler becomes very ill. She is being urged to marry by her Irish Catholic sweetheart, but can’t imagine marrying outside her Lutheran religion, let alone how the two of them would live together on so little money. And she is worried about her family – how they are adapting to their new country and about the safety of her younger sisters who must walk the wintry streets in the dark to and from their jobs. Are any of the young women safe with a killer on the loose?

In CRIMSON SNOW, Dams tells us a wonderful story about the life of immigrants in this country near the turn of the century. She includes, quite casually, elements of daily life that are so different from the way we live now that they are striking when you think about them – children working in factories, hotels, and as servants, families forced by circumstance to live apart, and walking as the primary means of transportation, even in winter and over great distances.

This is a very enjoyable book to read and really pulls the reader into the time period and setting. While Dams wrapped up the rest of the loose threads in Hilda’s life nicely, the end of the mystery itself fizzled out in an unsatisfactory way. But I won’t complain too much about that because the rest of this well-written book was so good.

Favorite character? Hilda, a tremendously likeable character. Very noble. Did I guess it? Not really, I was involved with the characters. Will I read another? Yes, this was a very good and interesting read.

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

Available at Amazon!

Penny Rudolph is today’s featured author, who has been described as “One of the most refreshing new heroines to wander into the crime genre “Rudolph gets it all right… Water is what makes Thicker Than Blood an important social document.” Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune

In THICKER THAN BLOOD, Rachel Chavez owns—and lives in—an L.A. parking garage. She’s trying to stay sober and make ends meet. When she discovers a dented car with smudges of what might be blood on the fender, she learns of the hit-and-run death of an executive at InterUrban Water District. This is Chinatown in the 21st century, plus the conflicting emotions of a woman trying to stay afloat and alive, the mixed motives of everyone from activists to bureaucrats, and an eclectic band of misfits who help Rachel solve the crime—from homeless fortune-teller Irene to night-shift office cleaner Goldie.

LIFEBLOOD, sequel to THICKER THAN BLOOD, is due to be released in August, 2007. Rachel Chavez, a tough but vulnerable recovering alcoholic, owns and lives in an apartment on the top floor of a parking garage in downtown Los Angeles. She is horrified when she discovers two unconscious young Mexican boys locked in an apparently abandoned van in the garage. She rushes them to the emergency room. Doctors declare one dead on arrival. The other, dehydrated but alive, is admitted to the hospital. But when Rachel checks back the next day, the Medical Center has no record of either child.

LISTEN TO THE MOCKINGBIRD is a somewhat feminist, historical mystery/suspense novel takes place in 1861 in New Mexico Territory, where the Civil War is about to have a startling impact on a woman who calls herself Matty Summerhayes. Matty is struggling to develop a horse ranch to make enough money to return to the East. A stranger dies in her barn, a rumor of a lost gold mine on her land emerges, and soon someone is trying to run her off her ranch. When her closest friend, a one-time slave, is about to be stoned for practicing voodoo, Matty saves her by staging a dramatic public exorcism. But Matty herself is arrested for murder and with her land up for bail, she must find the real killer or lose everything. She unmasks a spy and murderer, but celebration is cut short when an officer comes calling, intending to claim his rights to not only her land but to Matty herself.

You can find Penny Rudolph on the internet at pennyrudolph.com.

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

Today’s featured author is Susanne Alleyn. A TREASURY OF REGRETS, the sequel to GAME OF PATIENCE (2006), is the second book in a series set in Paris just before, during, and after the French Revolution. Both novels feature freelance investigator (a.k.a. police spy) Aristide Ravel and are historical police procedurals.

For police agent and investigator Aristide Ravel, the teeming streets and alleyways of Paris are a constant source of activity. And in the unruly climate of 1797, when gold and food are scarce, citizens will stop at very little to get what they need.

When Jeannette Moineau, an illiterate servant girl, is accused of poisoning the master of the house where she works, Ravel cannot believe she is guilty of the crime. With stubborn witnesses, a mysterious white powder, and stolen goods all stacked against her, however, he knows it will not be easy to clear her of the charges. But he finds an unexpected ally in Laurence, a young widow of the house, whose past surprisingly intersects his own.

In a large household brimming with bickering and resentment, everyone seems to have a motive for poisoning old Martin Dupont. But as more family members begin to turn up dead, the list of suspects rapidly dwindles. Tensions rise and Ravel and Laurence must probe the secrets of the city’s crafty politicians and confidence artists for clues to clear Jeannette’s name. Finding information, though, in dissolute post-revolutionary Paris, can lead to costly and dangerous demands.

GAME OF PATIENCE, Paris, 1796. Aristide Ravel, freelance undercover police agent and investigator, is confronted with a double murder in a fashionable apartment. The victims prove to be Célie Montereau, the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, and the man who was blackmailing her.

A friend of Célie’s, Rosalie Clément, an enigmatic, bitter young woman, provides Aristide with intelligence that steers him toward a young man, Philippe Aubry. Aubry has a violent past and was in love with Célie, but further inquiry reveals that – according to an eyewitness – he cannot have been her murderer.

As time passes, Aristide finds himself reluctantly falling in love with Rosalie, although he suspects that she knows more about the murders than she will say. From the gritty back alleys of Paris to its glittering salons and cafés, through the heart of the feverish, decadent society of postrevolutionary France, Aristide’s investigation leads him into a puzzle involving hidden secrets, crimes of passion, and long-nurtured hatreds.

Susanne Alleyn can be found on the web at www.susannealleyn.com.

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

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is today’s featured author. Lauren says she mostly writes contemporary novels with a comedic flair and YA, but VERTIGO is an erotic suspense novel, set in the late Victorian era, about a good wife who tries to become a better person by corresponding with a man in prison for murdering his own wife.

VERTIGO opens on New Year’s Eve 1898. Emma Smith has just informed the reader that “For seventeen years I was a good – some might say exemplary – wife. It is important that you know this about me from the start.” That night, she resolves to, during the course of the next year, become “a better person.” Her husband John, a writer, suggests that she do so by striking up a correspondence with a convicted murderer who he thinks does not deserve to be in prison for his crime. The prisoner, Chance Wood, initially wants nothing to do with Emma, but then his letters become more heated and Emma learns that the real definition of vertigo is not the fear of falling, but the fear of wanting to fall. As the following New Year’s approaches, and the world gets ready for 1900, Queen Victoria announces – at the suggestion of an advisor who states that this will make her look more progressive – that she will free certain prisoners that do not pose a real threat to society and who can get an upstanding citizen to petition for them. But by the time Chance is freed, Emma finds that she is in a prison of her own making. Unable or unwilling to merely turn away from the only world she has ever known in order to achieve what she wants, she becomes convinced that if she is to ever have her Chance, then her husband must die.

Lauren’s other books include A LITTLE CHANGE OF FACE, HOW NANCY DREW SAVED MY LIFE, and THE THINK PINK LINE.

Lauren can be found on the internet at laurenbaratzlogsted.com/.

There is also a very interesting interview with Lauren on Noveltown on May 8th.

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

Our featured author today is Roberta Isleib. Roberta has a new soft-boiled mystery about a psychologoist, Dr. Rebecca Butterman. Roberta’s books and stories have been nominated for two Agatha awards and two Anthony’s.

In DEADLY ADVICE, advice columnist/psychologist Dr. Rebecca Butterman traces the footsteps of a suicidal neighbor into the world of speed-dating and weblogging where no one is who they claim to be. When it comes to murder, everyone could use a little help…

You can finnd Roberta Isleib on the internet at robertaisleib.com/books.html. This page describes Roberta’s list of mysteries along with links to the first chapter of DEADLY ADVICE, discussion questions, advice columns, information on getting published, and more. Be sure to check out her golf mystery series, too!

Roberta’s appearance schedule is posted at robertaisleib.com/schedule.html.

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

Today’s featured author is Newton Love. Newt is a mixed blood American Indian / Scott, and has written a book about a Lakhota priest adapting to his calling.

In HOW THE STRONG SURVIVE, Four women–victims of a serial rapist–ask Ben Pace–a Lakhota priest who is living off the Rez–for help in acquiring justice. The rapist is a member of a rich and powerful family who were able to have the District Attorney bring the case to trial early, before it was ready, and easy to beat. Ben’s spirit guide–Raven Who Hops–directs Ben to help the women. Raven informs Ben that the fate of the women is tied to Ben’s life-walk, and to the Red Nations. By helping the women, Ben will discover how to advance another step in his training as a priest, and also how to help the Red Nations advance in their quest to acquire justice from the US Government over treaty violations, including thefts from the Department of the Interior’s Indian Trust Funds.

Newt Love can be found on the internet at newtlove.com/links.html. Here you will find his “works of music,” “works of words,” the first two chapters of HOW THE STRONG SURVIVE, and his biography.

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