4 Stars
Grounds to kill keeps you guessing till the end who the bad guys are. It is a murder mystery that Barista Jen Hamby wants to solve, with her friends. Why she feels the need to investigate the murder is simple. She found the body and hated her. Misty was her half sister,who slept with her boyfriend Arthur. The other suspect the cops have is her father. Her father who is homeless,doesn't speak to her for years but comes by the coffee shop a lot lately and hands out fliers for missing dog out all over. He does not have a dog even.
Jen also has a left hand that has a mind of its own and writes messages to her. Jen's hand wrote on the bathroom mirror that Arthur slept with Misty. So Jen kicks him out. For her hand is always right. She does not tell to many people that fact. She has two good friends that try and help her when they can. The guy she works with wants to be better friends.
Jen keeps getting into more trouble the longer she looks for the truth. Even her ex-boyfriend thinks she could be the killer. Arthur wants Jen to give him a second chance.
It was not a book to easyly decide what catergory of books it is. I liked it because I had no idea where it was leading. Loved the different characters. It was easy to follow the story and keep track of the characters. Some good humor.
I would read another book in the future of Wendy's.
I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review of it when finshed by Netgalley.
Publisher: Carina Press (January 7, 2013) 181 pages ASIN: B00A22UVJG
Discription below taken off of amazon.com
Barista Jen Hamby's coworkers give her a hard time for bringing coffee and pastries to a homeless man who sits outside her café--but she has a secret. The scruffy man is her father.
She's also hiding the little matter of why her palm itches. But how can she explain that her hand has a mind of its own and writes messages from the beyond? Right. That'll get her Employee of the Month.
When she finds herself scrawling your boyfriend is cheating on you! to herself on the bathroom mirror, she immediately dumps the guy. But then his little fling--who just happens to be her half sister--turns up dead, and suddenly Jen's homeless father is the prime suspect.
Jen knows he is being framed and must take matters into her own hands to protect him. But will anyone believe that the crazy old man is innocent? Or that his spirit-writing daughter holds the truth?
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Cowboy for Keeps by Cathy MCDavid
4 STARS
I enjoyed reading again about Mustang Valley and seeing old friends again.
Conner Durham has lost his job months ago and can't find anything like he had. He has 2 degrees even. Conner had sold his new cars and got a used truck that had no payments. He rented his house less than the morgage to try and hang on. He is working with horses on his friends ranch and helping out on the mustang sanctuary. He lives in a small apartment on the ranch.
Dallas Sorrenson is going to take the photographs of Prince and the Mustangs. She used to date Conner but the timing was wrong. Then she was engaged to Richard who had taken Conner's job when the plant downsized. Dallas had broken off the marriage plans and then found herself pregnant with Richard's baby.
Conner and Dallas are thrown together a lot while she is taking photos. They see a injured mare with two arrows in her still and she has a colt. Dallas is worried about the mare. Her photos go out to the media to help find the person who shot her. Plus her owner.
Conner finally finds her again and is able to bring them in at a high cost to himself.
It's not been a easy time finding a job and its hard on his ego. Plus Richard is still in the picture and will be hopefully for the baby's whole life.
Lots of drama,romance,hope,pride and horses in this Mustang Valley novel. I liked it was easy to read and picture in my mind. I feel bad for Conner I know a lot of people are in that situation right now. Just trying to hold on till the right job comes along.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley.
03/05/2013 PUB Harlequin Imprint Harlequin American Romance 224 pages ISBN-13: 978-0373754458
I enjoyed reading again about Mustang Valley and seeing old friends again.
Conner Durham has lost his job months ago and can't find anything like he had. He has 2 degrees even. Conner had sold his new cars and got a used truck that had no payments. He rented his house less than the morgage to try and hang on. He is working with horses on his friends ranch and helping out on the mustang sanctuary. He lives in a small apartment on the ranch.
Dallas Sorrenson is going to take the photographs of Prince and the Mustangs. She used to date Conner but the timing was wrong. Then she was engaged to Richard who had taken Conner's job when the plant downsized. Dallas had broken off the marriage plans and then found herself pregnant with Richard's baby.
Conner and Dallas are thrown together a lot while she is taking photos. They see a injured mare with two arrows in her still and she has a colt. Dallas is worried about the mare. Her photos go out to the media to help find the person who shot her. Plus her owner.
Conner finally finds her again and is able to bring them in at a high cost to himself.
It's not been a easy time finding a job and its hard on his ego. Plus Richard is still in the picture and will be hopefully for the baby's whole life.
Lots of drama,romance,hope,pride and horses in this Mustang Valley novel. I liked it was easy to read and picture in my mind. I feel bad for Conner I know a lot of people are in that situation right now. Just trying to hold on till the right job comes along.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley.
03/05/2013 PUB Harlequin Imprint Harlequin American Romance 224 pages ISBN-13: 978-0373754458
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World
5 STARS
I have heard the name Nellie Bly before but did not know anything about her or her famous race around the world. Matthew Goodman did a good job making it feel alive. The back of the book is around 75 pages of acknowledgments,notes and sources of where he got his information from.
A few days ago I got a surprise in the mail copy of Matthew Goodman's book Eighty days and a copy of Jules Verne book Around the world in eighty days. Which I have heard of but have not read. I am not sure how come I recieved the books. I enter a lot of contests,get books from Librarything,goodreads and Netgalley. I later got a digital copy of Eight Days so I was reading from book to listening on my kindle to reading the book. Either way the story was interesting. I would love to be able to do that even today. Except I would be more like Elizabeth and take more than one dress. Okay I would take pants.
I think the book showed up both the good and some not so favorable sides of both Nellie and Elizabeth.
Nellie got the idea to beat Phileas Fogg from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. A year before her trip. The World Newspaper turned her down than. They decided with two days notice to send her.
The Cosmopolitan Magazine owner decided to make a race of it and send his own reporter in a race going the oppisite direction. Elizabeth Bisland did not want to go. Just given hours to leave. Nellie was almost done with racing against the clock when she found out that thier was another reporter she was in a race against. Which is not fair to her.
One thing that Nellie got to do was to meet Jules Verne in his home. The race against his fictional character Fogg made his book sell even more copies and the play about hs book was produced again 11 years after it was closed the last time. I know now that I plan to read Around the World in Eighty Days and other Jules Verne fiction.
I learned a lot about how different people lived back than and how they traveled. So many things I have picked up that I had no clue about. That England fought a war to make China to let in Opium that they wanted to ship in China to make up trade decifit that they want against Tea
02/26/2013 PUB. Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine 480 pages ISBN 9780345527264
Description taken off Netgalley.com
On November 14, 1889, Nellie Bly, the crusading young female reporter for Joseph Pulitzer’s World newspaper, left New York City by steamship on a quest to break the record for the fastest trip around the world. Also departing from New York that day—and heading in the opposite direction by train—was a young journalist from The Cosmopolitan magazine, Elizabeth Bisland. Each woman was determined to outdo Jules Verne’s fictional hero Phileas Fogg and circle the globe in less than eighty days. The dramatic race that ensued would span twenty-eight thousand miles, captivate the nation, and change both competitors’ lives forever.
The two women were a study in contrasts. Nellie Bly was a scrappy, hard-driving, ambitious reporter from Pennsylvania coal country who sought out the most sensational news stories, often going undercover to expose social injustice. Genteel and elegant, Elizabeth Bisland had been born into an aristocratic Southern family, preferred novels and poetry to newspapers, and was widely referred to as the most beautiful woman in metropolitan journalism. Both women, though, were talented writers who had carved out successful careers in the hypercompetitive, male-dominated world of big-city newspapers. Eighty Days brings these trailblazing women to life as they race against time and each other, unaided and alone, ever aware that the slightest delay could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
A vivid real-life re-creation of the race and its aftermath, from its frenzied start to the nail-biting dash at its finish, Eighty Days is history with the heart of a great adventure novel. Here’s the journey that takes us behind the walls of Jules Verne’s Amiens estate, into the back alleys of Hong Kong, onto the grounds of a Ceylon tea plantation, through storm-tossed ocean crossings and mountains blocked by snowdrifts twenty feet deep, and to many more unexpected and exotic locales from London to Yokohama. Along the way, we are treated to fascinating glimpses of everyday life in the late nineteenth century—an era of unprecedented technological advances, newly remade in the image of the steamship, the railroad, and the telegraph. For Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland—two women ahead of their time in every sense of the word—were not only racing around the world. They were also racing through the very heart of the Victorian age.
Matthew Goodman is the author of two other nonfiction books, The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York and Jewish Food: The World at Table. The recipient of two MacDowell fellowships and one Yaddo fellowship, he has taught creative writing at numerous universities and workshops. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and children.
I have heard the name Nellie Bly before but did not know anything about her or her famous race around the world. Matthew Goodman did a good job making it feel alive. The back of the book is around 75 pages of acknowledgments,notes and sources of where he got his information from.
A few days ago I got a surprise in the mail copy of Matthew Goodman's book Eighty days and a copy of Jules Verne book Around the world in eighty days. Which I have heard of but have not read. I am not sure how come I recieved the books. I enter a lot of contests,get books from Librarything,goodreads and Netgalley. I later got a digital copy of Eight Days so I was reading from book to listening on my kindle to reading the book. Either way the story was interesting. I would love to be able to do that even today. Except I would be more like Elizabeth and take more than one dress. Okay I would take pants.
I think the book showed up both the good and some not so favorable sides of both Nellie and Elizabeth.
Nellie got the idea to beat Phileas Fogg from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. A year before her trip. The World Newspaper turned her down than. They decided with two days notice to send her.
The Cosmopolitan Magazine owner decided to make a race of it and send his own reporter in a race going the oppisite direction. Elizabeth Bisland did not want to go. Just given hours to leave. Nellie was almost done with racing against the clock when she found out that thier was another reporter she was in a race against. Which is not fair to her.
One thing that Nellie got to do was to meet Jules Verne in his home. The race against his fictional character Fogg made his book sell even more copies and the play about hs book was produced again 11 years after it was closed the last time. I know now that I plan to read Around the World in Eighty Days and other Jules Verne fiction.
I learned a lot about how different people lived back than and how they traveled. So many things I have picked up that I had no clue about. That England fought a war to make China to let in Opium that they wanted to ship in China to make up trade decifit that they want against Tea
02/26/2013 PUB. Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine 480 pages ISBN 9780345527264
Description taken off Netgalley.com
On November 14, 1889, Nellie Bly, the crusading young female reporter for Joseph Pulitzer’s World newspaper, left New York City by steamship on a quest to break the record for the fastest trip around the world. Also departing from New York that day—and heading in the opposite direction by train—was a young journalist from The Cosmopolitan magazine, Elizabeth Bisland. Each woman was determined to outdo Jules Verne’s fictional hero Phileas Fogg and circle the globe in less than eighty days. The dramatic race that ensued would span twenty-eight thousand miles, captivate the nation, and change both competitors’ lives forever.
The two women were a study in contrasts. Nellie Bly was a scrappy, hard-driving, ambitious reporter from Pennsylvania coal country who sought out the most sensational news stories, often going undercover to expose social injustice. Genteel and elegant, Elizabeth Bisland had been born into an aristocratic Southern family, preferred novels and poetry to newspapers, and was widely referred to as the most beautiful woman in metropolitan journalism. Both women, though, were talented writers who had carved out successful careers in the hypercompetitive, male-dominated world of big-city newspapers. Eighty Days brings these trailblazing women to life as they race against time and each other, unaided and alone, ever aware that the slightest delay could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
A vivid real-life re-creation of the race and its aftermath, from its frenzied start to the nail-biting dash at its finish, Eighty Days is history with the heart of a great adventure novel. Here’s the journey that takes us behind the walls of Jules Verne’s Amiens estate, into the back alleys of Hong Kong, onto the grounds of a Ceylon tea plantation, through storm-tossed ocean crossings and mountains blocked by snowdrifts twenty feet deep, and to many more unexpected and exotic locales from London to Yokohama. Along the way, we are treated to fascinating glimpses of everyday life in the late nineteenth century—an era of unprecedented technological advances, newly remade in the image of the steamship, the railroad, and the telegraph. For Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland—two women ahead of their time in every sense of the word—were not only racing around the world. They were also racing through the very heart of the Victorian age.
Matthew Goodman is the author of two other nonfiction books, The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York and Jewish Food: The World at Table. The recipient of two MacDowell fellowships and one Yaddo fellowship, he has taught creative writing at numerous universities and workshops. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and children.
Three Sisters (Blackberry Island) by Susan Mallery
4 STARS
Three Sister started out slowly and confusing for me. It kept switching telling three story lines at once. It was a while before they merged and it was a lot better. At first I was thinking that I would rather read a seperate book for each couple at a time.
Thier are some love scenes and dealing with hard issues that people have in thier lives.
Andi Gordon was left at the alter after being with him for ten years before he proposes. Then after that two weeks later he runs off and marrys his receptionist.
Andie is the child that is a disappointment to her parents. She has not lived up too her potential. Andie is only a children's doctor.
Andie decides to make some changes in her life. She has moved to Blackberry Island bought a big old house. She plans to have the bottom floor gutted and make her office and live above in the two stories. Andie plans to live in her attic while the remolding is done. She will work with the local doctor till her practice is ready for her to open.
Deanna Phillips is a perfectionist. Not very likeable. She lives in one of the Three Sisters Queen Anne houses. Her house and yard are perfectly restored. She has five girls. Deanna thinks her husband is having an affair. Her daughters are not close to her especially the oldest. Her husband travels in his job and he is gone most of the week. Deanna makes all her food from scratch. Only lets her girls have desert once a week.
Boston King is a artist and owns the third of the three sisters houses. Her house is more whimscal in design. Boston baby died at only 6 months old. She has been only able to draw him. Boston has not been able to cry over his death. Her husband has started drinking. They have always been close but now are far apart.
The story builds slowly till they are all connected and start working together on thier problems and relying on each other. Thier are no easy answers for what each women is facing but with each other they start to heal each other and help them to face thier trials.
I wanted the three new friends to all have happy endings or beginings. The more you got to know about the problems they each face instead of only seeing the front they hide behind the more I liked them.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley. This is the second Blackberry Island book that I have read. I look forward to reading more books set on Blackberry Island.
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA; Original edition (February 26, 2013) 352 pages ISBN-10: 0778314340
Three Sister started out slowly and confusing for me. It kept switching telling three story lines at once. It was a while before they merged and it was a lot better. At first I was thinking that I would rather read a seperate book for each couple at a time.
Thier are some love scenes and dealing with hard issues that people have in thier lives.
Andi Gordon was left at the alter after being with him for ten years before he proposes. Then after that two weeks later he runs off and marrys his receptionist.
Andie is the child that is a disappointment to her parents. She has not lived up too her potential. Andie is only a children's doctor.
Andie decides to make some changes in her life. She has moved to Blackberry Island bought a big old house. She plans to have the bottom floor gutted and make her office and live above in the two stories. Andie plans to live in her attic while the remolding is done. She will work with the local doctor till her practice is ready for her to open.
Deanna Phillips is a perfectionist. Not very likeable. She lives in one of the Three Sisters Queen Anne houses. Her house and yard are perfectly restored. She has five girls. Deanna thinks her husband is having an affair. Her daughters are not close to her especially the oldest. Her husband travels in his job and he is gone most of the week. Deanna makes all her food from scratch. Only lets her girls have desert once a week.
Boston King is a artist and owns the third of the three sisters houses. Her house is more whimscal in design. Boston baby died at only 6 months old. She has been only able to draw him. Boston has not been able to cry over his death. Her husband has started drinking. They have always been close but now are far apart.
The story builds slowly till they are all connected and start working together on thier problems and relying on each other. Thier are no easy answers for what each women is facing but with each other they start to heal each other and help them to face thier trials.
I wanted the three new friends to all have happy endings or beginings. The more you got to know about the problems they each face instead of only seeing the front they hide behind the more I liked them.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley. This is the second Blackberry Island book that I have read. I look forward to reading more books set on Blackberry Island.
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA; Original edition (February 26, 2013) 352 pages ISBN-10: 0778314340
The Gray Ghost Murders by Keith McCafferty
4 STARS
The Gray Ghost Murders is a follow up with the same characters plus a lot of new ones from Royal Wuff Murders. I read Royal Wuff last march 2012 and reviewed it here http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/03/royal-wulff-murders-keith-mccafferty.html.
I gave it 4 stars too.
If you love fly fishing and murder mysterys you will love The Gray Ghost Murders. It talks more about the flies of fly fishing then a lot of actual fishing. But does make you want to go out to the woods. Except ours are all covered with snow. Their are a few mysteries going on in this book.
Sean gets asked to look into finding the two missing flys. They are worth a bunch of money but the value is sentamental. Sean gets tricked into going to look for one thing and it is actually to meet up with someone else to talk about the missing flies. One is the Gray Ghost fly.
Sheriff Ettinger and team are out looking for a lost hiker when they find a grave in the trees. Before too much time comes their party gets in the way of a bear and her cubs. After they get the wounded tracker to the hospital. The next day Sean is asked to take them to the graves and look around for them.
Two bodies are buried out their. The bear had dug up part of the one so they could not even say who or how they died.
So Sean is busy, he still paints, fishing guides, and P.I. work. He is now working on a case for the sheriff Martha Ettinger. His personal life he met someone new and started dating her. He is still sleeping in his office to save money.
I keep thinking that he would get together with the Sheriff someday. I don't really feel connected to any of the characters. I do like Sean,Martha but the others not so much. Even the ones who end up dead. Maybe it is just me today.
I was kept guessing on everything till it had all played out. loved the settings of the story.
I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review of it when done by Netgalley.
02/21/2013 PUB PENGUIN GROUP Viking 320 pages ISBN 9780670025695
Description taken below is off of Netgalley.com
Montana’s favorite fly fisherman detective is back on the case in this compelling follow-up to The Royal Wulff Murders
When the graves of two men are discovered on Sphinx Mountain, Sheriff Martha Ettinger suspects murder. But with the only evidence a hole in a skull that might or might not have been caused by a bullet, she once more finds herself turning to private investigator Sean Stranahan for help. Stranahan already has a case, having been hired by a group of eccentric fly fishermen called The Madison River Liars and Fly Tiers Club to find a valuable fly that they suspect has been stolen. Could the disappearance of a vintage Gray Ghost from a riverside cabin in the Madison Valley be connected to the gray ghosts who haunt Sphinx Mountain? Stranahan will cross paths, and arms, with some of the most powerful people in the valley to find out, in a novel that is sure to capture new fans for one of the mystery genre’s rising stars.
The Gray Ghost Murders is a follow up with the same characters plus a lot of new ones from Royal Wuff Murders. I read Royal Wuff last march 2012 and reviewed it here http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/03/royal-wulff-murders-keith-mccafferty.html.
I gave it 4 stars too.
If you love fly fishing and murder mysterys you will love The Gray Ghost Murders. It talks more about the flies of fly fishing then a lot of actual fishing. But does make you want to go out to the woods. Except ours are all covered with snow. Their are a few mysteries going on in this book.
Sean gets asked to look into finding the two missing flys. They are worth a bunch of money but the value is sentamental. Sean gets tricked into going to look for one thing and it is actually to meet up with someone else to talk about the missing flies. One is the Gray Ghost fly.
Sheriff Ettinger and team are out looking for a lost hiker when they find a grave in the trees. Before too much time comes their party gets in the way of a bear and her cubs. After they get the wounded tracker to the hospital. The next day Sean is asked to take them to the graves and look around for them.
Two bodies are buried out their. The bear had dug up part of the one so they could not even say who or how they died.
So Sean is busy, he still paints, fishing guides, and P.I. work. He is now working on a case for the sheriff Martha Ettinger. His personal life he met someone new and started dating her. He is still sleeping in his office to save money.
I keep thinking that he would get together with the Sheriff someday. I don't really feel connected to any of the characters. I do like Sean,Martha but the others not so much. Even the ones who end up dead. Maybe it is just me today.
I was kept guessing on everything till it had all played out. loved the settings of the story.
I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review of it when done by Netgalley.
02/21/2013 PUB PENGUIN GROUP Viking 320 pages ISBN 9780670025695
Description taken below is off of Netgalley.com
Montana’s favorite fly fisherman detective is back on the case in this compelling follow-up to The Royal Wulff Murders
When the graves of two men are discovered on Sphinx Mountain, Sheriff Martha Ettinger suspects murder. But with the only evidence a hole in a skull that might or might not have been caused by a bullet, she once more finds herself turning to private investigator Sean Stranahan for help. Stranahan already has a case, having been hired by a group of eccentric fly fishermen called The Madison River Liars and Fly Tiers Club to find a valuable fly that they suspect has been stolen. Could the disappearance of a vintage Gray Ghost from a riverside cabin in the Madison Valley be connected to the gray ghosts who haunt Sphinx Mountain? Stranahan will cross paths, and arms, with some of the most powerful people in the valley to find out, in a novel that is sure to capture new fans for one of the mystery genre’s rising stars.
Blast from the Past Blog tour
Blast from the Past
Virtual Blog Tour
Guest Blog Post: Rhonda Laney’s Read A Lot
Meet Mac Faraday
By Lauren Carr
Anyone who has read any of my blog posts on other sites knows by now that I grew up reading Perry Mason, Ellery Queen, and saw every episode of Columbo, It’s Murder, She Wrote. I’m a die-hard mystery fan. When it became apparent that I was destined to be a writer, it was natural for me to create my own detective and write my own mysteries.
Before writing It’s Murder, My Son, the first installment in the Mac Faraday Mysteries, I went over the various popular detectives throughout the years, decades, really, and noticed a trend: The great detectives have become more humanized.
Take a look at Sherlock Holmes. (Not the star of Elementary, but the original Sherlock Holmes.) He lives at 221B Baker Street. His childhood is practically non-existent. He has no wife or family. No love interest. Sherlock Holmes is basically perfect as far as his intelligence and manner. He is so highly regarded that he appears beyond touch, which makes him difficult for the reader to embrace.
Let’s move forward twenty-five years or so to Ellery Queen: In the Ellery Queen books and radio show, you get more of a sense of the detective. Like Sherlock before him, Ellery comes across as highly educated. He is a successful author and investigates crime because they stimulate him. He’s got a hint of a love interest and a family and friends, which makes him a little more touchable. Yet, still, the reader is not allowed to get too close to Ellery Queen.
Fast forward another twenty-five years: Columbo, followed by It’s Murder, She Wrote and Monk: Television viewers never knew Columbo’s first name. However, you knew that he was married and adored his wife. Not an episode went by that you didn’t learn something about his wife, and smile at the way Peter Falk would grin when talking about her. Sometimes, he would even be paired up with his dog, an unnamed Bassett Hound.
Jessica Fletcher (It’s Murder, She Wrote) had more nieces and nephews than you could count. She had friends all over the world and was always ready to hop a plane to dive into solving amurder to clear their name. She was also ready to give some motherly advice when needed to put a friend or family member back on the straight and narrow.
Then there was Monk. Even with all his issues, or maybe because of his issues, Monk endeared himself to television viewers. The proper Sherlock Holmes, Monk is not.
All of these characters were great detectives, yet they are as different as night and day in their personalities. The most noticeable difference between all of them is the gradual humanization that has occurred over the decades.
This is where authors need to walk a fine line. It is easy to get so caught up in endearing the detective to the reader to make them touchable, that the mystery can end up taking the back seat to detective’s personal lives.
While Columbo is every bit as attune to subtle details as Sherlock Holmes (and this is decades before DNA profiling), he is much more down to earth, and approachable to the reader. Ask yourself: Who would you rather have as a neighbor? Sherlock Holmes or Columbo?
If you’re a killer—Neither!
Meet Mac Faraday
Mac Faraday was a homicide detective in Washington D.C. He is highly regarded by the other detectives and had worked his way up to lieutenant. After twenty years of marriage, his wife leaves him for another man, an assistant district attorney in Washington, who uses his connections to wipe Mac Faraday out in the divorce.
On the day that the divorce becomes final, Mac Faraday is approached by a lawyer as he comes out of the courtroom. Seeing the lawyer’s tailored suit and upper crust persona, Mac immediately assumes he is a friend of his ex-wife’s lover out to strike another blow, and runs.
The lawyer chases him for three blocks before Mac stops and braces himself.
With the grin of a child telling a secret, the lawyer tells Mac Faraday that he is the sole heir of Robin Spencer, the late Queen of American Mystery (the United States version of Agatha Christie) who had died six weeks before. Mac Faraday has inherited $270 million dollars and an estate on Deep Creek Lake.
Mac Faraday discovers that his mother was Robin Spencer, who had given birth to him and put him up for adoption when she was an unwed teenager. His birth father had gone on to become the police chief of Spencer, Maryland. Mac also has a half-brother, David O’Callaghan, who is now the town’s chief of police.
Mac has also inherited Gnarly, an overly intelligent German shepherd, the only K-9 to be dishonorably discharged from the United States Army. Why? The Army refuses to talk about it.
A rich man who doesn’t like golf, Mac solves murder mysteries for entertainment, or to help his new friends in the resort town of Spencer, Maryland, a town founded by his mother’s ancestors.
His love interest is Archie Monday, the lady who came with his manor home located along the shore of Deep Creek Lake. His late mother’s research assistant and editor, Archie lives in the guest cottage on the estate. Robin’s will stipulates that Archie may live there as long as she wants, and Mac has no desire for the green-eyed blonde to leave.
In Blast from the Past, Mac Faraday finds himself up to his eyeballs in mobsters and federal agents.
After an attempted hit ends badly with two of his men dead, mobster Tommy Cruze arrives in Spencer, Maryland, to personally supervise the execution of the witness responsible for putting him behind bars—Archie Monday!
Mac Faraday believes he has his work cut out for him in protecting his lady love from one of the most dangerous leaders in organized crime; but when bodies start dropping in his lakeshore resort town of Spencer, Maryland, things may be hotter than even he can handle.
In this fourth installment in the Mac Faraday Mysteries, readers learn more about Archie Monday’s past in a flash—as in a gun fight when the syndicate comes to town. In Blast from the Past, readers are going to be surprised to discover the secret of Archie Monday’s past, which threatens her and Mac’s future.
Blast from the Past also takes the Mac Faraday Mysteries to a new level as his relationship with Archie Monday moves onto a whole new level.
What about Gnarly, Mac Faraday’s canine inheritance—the only German shepherd to be dishonorably discharged from the United States Army? Let’s just say Gnarly kicks things up a notch in his own way.
Virtual Blog Tour
Guest Blog Post: Rhonda Laney’s Read A Lot
Meet Mac Faraday
By Lauren Carr
Anyone who has read any of my blog posts on other sites knows by now that I grew up reading Perry Mason, Ellery Queen, and saw every episode of Columbo, It’s Murder, She Wrote. I’m a die-hard mystery fan. When it became apparent that I was destined to be a writer, it was natural for me to create my own detective and write my own mysteries.
Before writing It’s Murder, My Son, the first installment in the Mac Faraday Mysteries, I went over the various popular detectives throughout the years, decades, really, and noticed a trend: The great detectives have become more humanized.
Take a look at Sherlock Holmes. (Not the star of Elementary, but the original Sherlock Holmes.) He lives at 221B Baker Street. His childhood is practically non-existent. He has no wife or family. No love interest. Sherlock Holmes is basically perfect as far as his intelligence and manner. He is so highly regarded that he appears beyond touch, which makes him difficult for the reader to embrace.
Let’s move forward twenty-five years or so to Ellery Queen: In the Ellery Queen books and radio show, you get more of a sense of the detective. Like Sherlock before him, Ellery comes across as highly educated. He is a successful author and investigates crime because they stimulate him. He’s got a hint of a love interest and a family and friends, which makes him a little more touchable. Yet, still, the reader is not allowed to get too close to Ellery Queen.
Fast forward another twenty-five years: Columbo, followed by It’s Murder, She Wrote and Monk: Television viewers never knew Columbo’s first name. However, you knew that he was married and adored his wife. Not an episode went by that you didn’t learn something about his wife, and smile at the way Peter Falk would grin when talking about her. Sometimes, he would even be paired up with his dog, an unnamed Bassett Hound.
Jessica Fletcher (It’s Murder, She Wrote) had more nieces and nephews than you could count. She had friends all over the world and was always ready to hop a plane to dive into solving amurder to clear their name. She was also ready to give some motherly advice when needed to put a friend or family member back on the straight and narrow.
Then there was Monk. Even with all his issues, or maybe because of his issues, Monk endeared himself to television viewers. The proper Sherlock Holmes, Monk is not.
All of these characters were great detectives, yet they are as different as night and day in their personalities. The most noticeable difference between all of them is the gradual humanization that has occurred over the decades.
This is where authors need to walk a fine line. It is easy to get so caught up in endearing the detective to the reader to make them touchable, that the mystery can end up taking the back seat to detective’s personal lives.
While Columbo is every bit as attune to subtle details as Sherlock Holmes (and this is decades before DNA profiling), he is much more down to earth, and approachable to the reader. Ask yourself: Who would you rather have as a neighbor? Sherlock Holmes or Columbo?
If you’re a killer—Neither!
Meet Mac Faraday
Mac Faraday was a homicide detective in Washington D.C. He is highly regarded by the other detectives and had worked his way up to lieutenant. After twenty years of marriage, his wife leaves him for another man, an assistant district attorney in Washington, who uses his connections to wipe Mac Faraday out in the divorce.
On the day that the divorce becomes final, Mac Faraday is approached by a lawyer as he comes out of the courtroom. Seeing the lawyer’s tailored suit and upper crust persona, Mac immediately assumes he is a friend of his ex-wife’s lover out to strike another blow, and runs.
The lawyer chases him for three blocks before Mac stops and braces himself.
With the grin of a child telling a secret, the lawyer tells Mac Faraday that he is the sole heir of Robin Spencer, the late Queen of American Mystery (the United States version of Agatha Christie) who had died six weeks before. Mac Faraday has inherited $270 million dollars and an estate on Deep Creek Lake.
Mac Faraday discovers that his mother was Robin Spencer, who had given birth to him and put him up for adoption when she was an unwed teenager. His birth father had gone on to become the police chief of Spencer, Maryland. Mac also has a half-brother, David O’Callaghan, who is now the town’s chief of police.
Mac has also inherited Gnarly, an overly intelligent German shepherd, the only K-9 to be dishonorably discharged from the United States Army. Why? The Army refuses to talk about it.
A rich man who doesn’t like golf, Mac solves murder mysteries for entertainment, or to help his new friends in the resort town of Spencer, Maryland, a town founded by his mother’s ancestors.
His love interest is Archie Monday, the lady who came with his manor home located along the shore of Deep Creek Lake. His late mother’s research assistant and editor, Archie lives in the guest cottage on the estate. Robin’s will stipulates that Archie may live there as long as she wants, and Mac has no desire for the green-eyed blonde to leave.
In Blast from the Past, Mac Faraday finds himself up to his eyeballs in mobsters and federal agents.
After an attempted hit ends badly with two of his men dead, mobster Tommy Cruze arrives in Spencer, Maryland, to personally supervise the execution of the witness responsible for putting him behind bars—Archie Monday!
Mac Faraday believes he has his work cut out for him in protecting his lady love from one of the most dangerous leaders in organized crime; but when bodies start dropping in his lakeshore resort town of Spencer, Maryland, things may be hotter than even he can handle.
In this fourth installment in the Mac Faraday Mysteries, readers learn more about Archie Monday’s past in a flash—as in a gun fight when the syndicate comes to town. In Blast from the Past, readers are going to be surprised to discover the secret of Archie Monday’s past, which threatens her and Mac’s future.
Blast from the Past also takes the Mac Faraday Mysteries to a new level as his relationship with Archie Monday moves onto a whole new level.
What about Gnarly, Mac Faraday’s canine inheritance—the only German shepherd to be dishonorably discharged from the United States Army? Let’s just say Gnarly kicks things up a notch in his own way.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Tomorrow author Lauren Carr will be guest blogger
I have read and reviewed Lauren's books and have enjoyed them. She is on a book tour for Blast from the Past.
She sent me soft back copies of Blast From the Past her new A Mac Faraday mystery. She also sent Dead on Ice from her Lovers in crime mystery.
I have read both in ebook form arc.So I read them again the past few days. Even though I knew who was the bad guys were I still enjoyed getting lost in the story.
So if you like murder mysteries try Lauren's Carrs book. I do like Mac and Gnarly. One question though. What happened to all the puppies? http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-gnarly-christmas-by-lauren-carr.html 4 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2013/01/blast-form-past-by-lauren-carr.html 5 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-reunion-to-die-for-joshua-thornton.html 4 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-small-case-of-murder-by-lauren-carr.html 4 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/11/lucky-dog-by-lauren-carr.html 4STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/08/review-dead-on-ice-by-lauren-carr.html 5 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/06/reviewold-loves-die-hard-by-lauren-carr.html 5 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/06/it-murder-my-son-by-lauren-carr.html 4 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/06/shades-of-murder-mac-faraday-mystery-by.html 5 STARS
If you want to read my reviews of Lauren's novels here is the address and the rating I did when I read them.
She sent me soft back copies of Blast From the Past her new A Mac Faraday mystery. She also sent Dead on Ice from her Lovers in crime mystery.
I have read both in ebook form arc.So I read them again the past few days. Even though I knew who was the bad guys were I still enjoyed getting lost in the story.
So if you like murder mysteries try Lauren's Carrs book. I do like Mac and Gnarly. One question though. What happened to all the puppies? http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-gnarly-christmas-by-lauren-carr.html 4 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2013/01/blast-form-past-by-lauren-carr.html 5 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-reunion-to-die-for-joshua-thornton.html 4 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-small-case-of-murder-by-lauren-carr.html 4 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/11/lucky-dog-by-lauren-carr.html 4STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/08/review-dead-on-ice-by-lauren-carr.html 5 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/06/reviewold-loves-die-hard-by-lauren-carr.html 5 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/06/it-murder-my-son-by-lauren-carr.html 4 STARS
http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/2012/06/shades-of-murder-mac-faraday-mystery-by.html 5 STARS
If you want to read my reviews of Lauren's novels here is the address and the rating I did when I read them.
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