Tag: #standalone

Feature Post and Book Review: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI: by David Grann

Book Description

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.

As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29496076-killers-of-the-flower-moon?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Na1KjaELps&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann is an enthralling true story of the murder, greed, and fear that permeated the Osage Indian tribe for years in 1920’s Oklahoma. This is an extensively researched look at the oil rich Osage and the prejudice which allowed white guardians to exploit the system to steal, embezzle, and murder their charges for their shares of oil rights and the newly formed FBI men who took on this murder investigation.

Molly Burkhart watched as one by one her Osage family and friends were killed. Some by gunshot, some by poisoning, and others never designated with a method of death since the tribe became the richest people in the U.S. due to the oil under their land. In the 1920’s, the Osage were considered unable to handle their wealth and the Federal government decided that they should be appointed white guardians. When anyone questioned the deaths, they would mysteriously end up dead.

The murder rate exceeded the national average when the government decided to send in men from the newly formed FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. At first, they did no better than the corrupt local law enforcement until Hoover sent in Tom White. He put together a team of his choosing who all entered the region undercover and soon began to piece together a conspiracy tied to the most influential rancher in the area.

This book is intricately plotted not only making the characters come to life for the reader, but to show the Osage were set up to be exploited (hopefully) unintentionally by the Federal government’s decision that put the Osage under guardianship. The local white population took advantage of this system to follow the money and kill off family lines until the white guardians inherited the Osage money and oil rights. While this book focuses on the one conspiracy of criminals publicized in that time that were brought to trial after the FBI’s investigation, the author discusses many other murders that were never investigated. I was outraged by the prejudice, heartsick by the killing, and that is what I hope to feel and more when reading a book about a historical atrocity. The descendants of the Osage are still looking for justice and closure which will never come.

I highly recommend this compelling historical true crime mystery.

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About the Author

DAVID GRANN is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books “The Wager,” “The Lost City of Z,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the author of “The White Darkness” and the collection “The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession.” His book “Killers of the Flower Moon” was recently adapted into a film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro. Several of his other stories, including “The Lost City of Z” and “Old Man and the Gun,” have also been adapted into major motion pictures. His investigative reporting and storytelling have garnered several honors, including a George Polk Award and an Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.davidgrann.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidGrannAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidGrann

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/david-grann

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Girl from the Red Rose Motel by Susan Beckham Zurenda

Book Description


Impoverished high school junior Hazel Smalls and privileged senior Sterling Lovell would never ordinarily meet. But when both are punished with in-school suspension, Sterling finds himself drawn to the gorgeous, studious girl seated nearby, and an unlikely relationship begins.

Set in 2012 South Carolina, the novel interlaces the stories of Hazel, living with her homeless family in the rundown Red Rose Motel; Sterling, yearning to break free from his wealthy parents’ expectations; and recently widowed Angela Wilmore, their stern but compassionate English teacher. Hazel hides her homelessness from Sterling until he discovers her cleaning the motel’s office when he goes with his slumlord father to unfreeze the motel’s pipes one morning. With her secret revealed, their relationship deepens. Angela-who has her own struggles in a budding romance with the divorced principal-offers Hazel the support her family can’t provide. Navigating between privilege and poverty, vulnerability and strength, all three must confront what they need from themselves and each other as Hazel gains the courage to oppose boundaries and make a bold, life-changing decision at novel’s end.

Gripping and richly drawn, The Girl from the Red Rose Motel explores the complex bonds between adults and teenagers and the power of the families we both inherit and create. Inspired by the author’s experiences teaching in a South Carolina high school, the novel is also an unflinching, authentic look at the challenges faced by America’s public school teachers and the struggles of the thousands of homeless children in motels who live, precariously and almost invisibly, amid the nation’s most affluent communities”-

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Girl from The Red Rose Motel by Susan Zurenda delves into very relevant issues of the day. It is told from three points of view: privileged high school senior boy (Sterling), a high school junior girl whose family lives below the poverty line (Hazel), and their high school English teacher (Angela). It is a drama about relationships, showing how poverty has impacted children and having to navigate being homeless with going to high school.

The plot has Impoverished high school junior Hazel Smalls and privileged senior Sterling Lovell meeting after both were punished with in-school suspension, Sterling finds himself drawn to the gorgeous, studious girl seated nearby, and an unlikely relationship begins. Set in 2012 South Carolina, the novel interlaces the stories of Hazel, living with her homeless family in the rundown Red Rose Motel; Sterling, yearning to break free from his wealthy parents’ expectations; and recently widowed Angela Wilmore, their stern but compassionate English teacher. Hazel hides her homelessness from Sterling until he discovers her cleaning the motel’s office when he goes with his slumlord father to unfreeze the motel’s pipes one morning. With her secret revealed, their relationship deepens.

This book will tug at reader’s heartstrings. The characters are complex, and people will root for each of them. The ending may not be what readers are hoping for, but it is very realistic. There are important current issues that are covered.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Did you base it on your experiences?

Susan Zurenda: I taught English for 33 years, mostly in the community college system. In the last ten years I taught AP English in high school. The story came out of my teaching experience since I taught the 4 AP classes and a fifth class called Reading Strategies. These children were behind in their reading and writing skills. I was supposed to be a magician to get their reading skills improved so they can pass the exit exam to graduate in South Carolina. In the story the children in the AP classes and this fifth class were from different backgrounds.

EC: Were there any incidents in the book based on your actual teaching experience?

SZ: Yes. One is what starts the action in the book. When Sterling and his friends take over his AP English class. I taught these eight boys who terrorized their teachers since middle school. They have never been called to task. I had three of them in a class. They tried to one up themselves with trifle behavior. I decided to just sit at my desk and the ringleader came up and started teaching. I went to the Vice-principal and insisted these boys be punished. They called themselves ‘the crazy eights,’ and I called them ‘the hateful eightful.’

EC: Are you the AP English teacher, Angela Wilmore?

SZ: No, but I could not have written her story if I did not have the teacher experience and knowledge. Angela is a lot nicer and funkier than I ever was. She is very stern and caring just like myself. She does not have children of her own. She helps the student Hazel when her family cannot help. Angela becomes Hazel’s foster mother. The inspiration for Angela becoming a

foster parent was a friend of mine, a teacher of the year. She did it because the child had no place to go.

EC: How would you describe Sterling?

SZ: He is very smart, in the AP class, but misbehaves so he finds himself in ISS, in school suspension. He does have some baggage because of what happened in his childhood. He is an arrogant, rude, disrespectful brilliant, affluent boy.

EC: How would you describe Hazel?

SZ: She is shy, quiet, and shameful of her desolate situation, having to live in a hotel. She does not seek out friends.

EC: How about the relationship between Hazel and Sterling?

SZ: When he starts to show he likes her she does not believe he is serious. It is a while until she opens up to him. She grows throughout the novel. Sterling and Angela show her it is possible to get out of the world of poverty. She becomes more self-confident, logical, and level-headed. I did hear of students living in run down motels, considered homeless. A guidance counselor I know started the organization CAST: Care, Accept, Share, and Teach, to assist families.

EC: What was the role of the Red Rose Motel?

SZ: I wanted to separate the families who are homeless from the drug addicts and mentally disabled. There are a lot of families with children who are homeless. In January 2022 there are about 350,000 children nationwide living in hotels because their families were evicted. There is a lack of affordable housing. The family gets evicted because they do not make enough money to afford a rental unit so they move to the Red Rose Motel.

EC: Next book?

SZ: I do not know if I will write another book.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: A White Hot Plan by Mike & Ayan Rubin

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A WHITE HOT PLAN by Mike & Ayan Rubin on this Coffee and Thorn Book Tour.

Below you will find an about the book section, my book review, an about the authors section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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About the Book

A group of alt-right terrorists decides that now is the time–and New Orleans is the place–to make an explosive statement that will force the world to acknowledge the superiority of the white supremacist movement.

Disgraced former New Orleans homicide detective Starner Gautreaux is now a poorly paid sheriff’s deputy relegated to writing his weekly quota of speeding tickets in a sleepy south Louisiana parish. His mundane life is all-too-predictable until several unusual events cause him to suspect something is seriously amiss. While the local coroner classifies the resulting deaths as accidental, Starner’s prior experience leads him to believe that not only are they homicides, but also that they signal something far more sinister.

Taut action bubbles up from the swamps of Louisiana to the hidden haunts of underworld bosses, from small-town life to urban grit, and from a high-speed highway shootout to a terrifying confrontation in the heart of the French Quarter. White supremacists seek to impose their will on a city swamped with carefree tourists, but Starner Gautreaux is determined not to let that happen.

A White Hot Plan

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

A WHITE HOT PLAN by Mike & Ayan Rubin is an intricately plotted, gripping thriller featuring a disgraced former NOPD homicide detective now just going through the motions as a rural sheriff’s deputy in his hometown South Louisiana parish. This is a standalone thriller that does leave an opening in the final chapter for the possibility of more books featuring this protagonist in the future and I am hoping that does happen.

Sheriff’s Deputy Starner Gautreaux is leading a predictably mundane life in his hometown until people begin to disappear and others are found dead. While the coroner calls them natural deaths, Starner’s experience has him believing otherwise. Starner refuses to ignore what is happening, but he will have to move quickly to stop a plot that could destroy the French Quarter during a festival.

This is a timely plot with the rise of domestic terrorism and white supremist groups currently in the news. Starner has grown up in this racially charged area, but treats all equally, but is not blind to the racism all around him. He has had a horrific life since Katrina and yet he still has a sense of justice that he cannot let go. The parish comes to life with the author’s descriptive writing of the bayou, the small town, the corrupt sheriff, and the fanatical delusions and cruelty of the white power group. The plot is fast paced and captivating as readers get to follow not only Starner’s point of view, but also all the members of the racist group. The short chapters moved the plot quickly and made me not want to stop reading until the end.

I highly recommend this engrossing crime thriller and I hope P.I. Starner Gautreaux will be back in more new books.

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About the Authors

Mike and Ayan Rubin are a husband and wife writing team.

Their debut novel, THE COTTONCREST CURSE, is a historical thriller published by the award-winning LSU Press. Its story line takes place from the 1860’s through the 1960’s and follows the exploits and travails of several generations of five families who own, work, or reside near the eponymous South Louisiana plantation.  THE COTTONCREST CURSE garnered the Book of the Year Gold Award at an annual meeting of the American Library Association where it was named the top thriller/suspense novel published by a university or independent press. A German edition has been published by Suhrkamp and is for sale in Europe.

Their second novel, a contemporary legal thriller entitled CASHED OUT, is now in its second edition.  It won the coveted Jack Eadon award as the Best Contemporary Drama and was shortlisted for the Silver Falchion Award as the best thriller. Combining page-turning action with a distinct sense of southern locale, the Providence Journal raved that it features “a lawyer down and out enough to make John Grisham proud. He’s culled from the likes of Michael Connelly by way of James Lee Burke. A gem of a tale.”

A WHITE HOT PLAN is their third novel.

A nationally known legal ethicist, public speaker and humorist, as well as a full time appellate attorney, Mike has had a varied career. He has been a professional jazz pianist in the New Orleans French Quarter, a radio and television announcer, and an adjunct law professor. He won the Burton Award for Outstanding Writing given at the Library of Congress and is a member of the Author’s Guild, the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and the International Association of Crime Writers.

Ayan has had an equally varied career, having been a classroom teacher, an education administrator, a prolific grant writer, a developmental book editor, a nonprofit consultant, and, for almost three decades, the Coordinator of the Educational Services Division of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, a statewide television network, where she was responsible for initiating and then shepherding a wide variety of video projects from concept through script development and production to statewide and national broadcast.

Mike’s breadth of knowledge about the intricacies of the law and his penchant for devising dramatic situations, combined with Ayan’s unique ability to visualize and bring characters and scenes to life, make for taut tales with unrelenting twists and turns.

Because Mike’s full time legal career and numerous speaking engagements keep them hopping, they write early in the morning or late in the evening, often discussing plot lines and character development during their daily 4:30 a.m. power walks. They are just as apt to draft and revise chapters while sitting in airports or hotel rooms as they are to do so in their adjoining home offices.

Together, Mike and Ayan Rubin have developed a unique literary voice that has captivated devotees of their page-turning thrillers. A WHITE HOT PLAN is their third novel..

The protagonists and primary characters in each of their contemporary novels are descendants of the protagonists and primary characters in THE COTTONCREST CURSE, and the intoxicating action in all of their fiction plays out amidst the backwoods, bayous, big cities, and body politic of their beguiling home state of Louisiana.

Social Media Links

Website: https://mrubinbooks.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100036882297081

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelHRubin

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6187123.Michael_H_Rubin

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl by Samantha Wilcoxson

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for LUMINOUS: The Story of a Radium Girl by Samantha Wilcoxson on this Coffee and Thorn Book Tour.

Below you will find an about the book section, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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About the Book

Catherine’s life is set on an unexpected course when she accepts a job at Radium Dial. She soon finds out that the excellent pay is no recompense for the evil secret that lurks in the magical glow-in-the-dark paint. Catherine Donohoe takes on the might of a big corporation and becomes an early pioneer of social justice in the era between world wars.

Emotive and inspiring – this book will touch you like no other as you witness the devastating impact of radium poisoning on young women’s lives.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52288751-luminous?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=JgZAkE25ik&rank=1

LUMINOUS: The Story of a Radium Girl

  • Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Luminous-Story-Radium-Samantha-Wilcoxson-ebook/dp/B085ZWBFCQ
  • Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/52288751
  • Genre:  Fictional account of real events, 1920s and 30s.
  • Print length: 321 pages (83K words)
  • Age range: This is an adult book, but may be suitable for mature older teenagers
  • Trigger warnings: Distressing medical content

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

LUMINOUS: The Story of a Radium Girl by Samantha Wilcoxson is an emotionally heartrending historical biographical fiction story that had me grabbing the tissues as the main character’s disease progresses and yet cheering her on as she fights for justice in a time when workers are considered insignificant and easily replaceable to companies in the 1920’s and 30’s. While this is a story where you know what happens to the main character in the end, it is her fighting spirit in the face of her pain that starts to bring awareness to exploitation of all workers in dangerous jobs.

Catherine is excited to get a job at Radium Dial in Ottawa, Illinois. It is the largest and the highest paying company in the city and with this job she will be able to help her aunt and uncle with their bills. It is exacting work painting the glow paint on the dark numerals on watch dials. While the young girls have fun with the glow-in-the dark paint, they do not realize the radium is poisoning them. As her friends begin to get sick and die, Catherine realizes her greatest fear…that the radium paint they use pointing their brushes with their mouths is deadly.

Catherine and her husband face her diagnosis with their faith and love, but they also want justice. Catherine becomes a determined fighter for workers, but she is also fighting against time.

The minute I read about the “pointing of the brushes”, I wanted to scream, “NO!” Catherine’s story is difficult to read and yet I feel it is necessary to honor her by reading it and continuing her fight. Our society today is once again going through worker vs. corporation upheavals and that makes this a timely inspirational read. I love history, but this story is new to me and now I will never forget it or any of the radium girls.

I highly recommend this historical biographical fiction!

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About the Author

Samantha Wilcoxson is an author of emotive biographical fiction and strives to help readers connect with history’s unsung heroes. She also writes nonfiction for Pen & Sword History. Samantha loves sharing trips to historic places with her family and spending time by the lake with a glass of wine. Her most recent work is Women of the American Revolution, which explores the lives of 18th century women, and she is currently working on a biography of James Alexander Hamilton.

Social Media Links

Book Tour/ Feature Post and Book Review: An Unsuitable Heiress by Jane Dunn

Hashtags: #anunsuitableheiress, #janedunn, #historicalromance, #regencyromance, #newbooks, #bookrecommendation, #bookstagram, #bookreview, #regencyficiton, #booktwitter, #boldwoodbooks  

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for AN UNSUITABLE HEIRESS by Jane Dunn on this Austen Prose Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Following the death of her mother, Corinna Ormesby has lived a quiet life in the countryside with her cantankerous Cousin Agnes. Her father’s identity has been a tantalizing mystery, but now at nineteen Corinna knows that finding him may be her only way to avoid marriage to the odious Mr. Beech.

Deciding to head to London, Corinna dons a male disguise. Travelling alone as a young woman risks scandal and danger, but when, masquerading as a youth, she is befriended by three dashing blades, handsome and capable Alick Wolfe, dandy Ferdinand Shilton and the incorrigible Lord Purfoy, Corinna now has access to the male-only world of Regency England. And when she meets Alick’s turbulent brother Darius, a betrayal of trust leads to deadly combat which only one of the brothers may survive.

From gambling in gentleman’s clubs to meeting the courtesans of Covent Garden, Corinna’s country naivety soon falls away. But when she finds her father at last, learns the truth about her parentage and discovers her fortunes transformed, she must quickly decide how to reveal her true identity, while hoping that one young man in particular can see her for the beauty and Lady she really is.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86028724-an-unsuitable-heiress?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=gJfTUNS0gn&rank=1

AN UNSUITABLE HEIRESS

  • Author: Jane Dunn
  • Genre: Historical Romance, Regency Romance
  • Publisher: ‎ Boldwood Books (May 22, 2023)
  • Length: 350 pages
  • Format: Trade Paperback, eBook, & Audiobook 
  • ISBN: ‎978-1804835364

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

AN UNSUITABLE HEIRESS by Jane Dunn is an entertaining Regency historical romance/historical fiction with an adventuress young woman who dresses in men’s clothing and travels to London to find the father she never knew and pursue her dream of being a professional painter. This is an easy and fun to read standalone Regency story with enchanting characters.

Corrina “Cory” Ormesby has always known she is an illegitimate child. Since her mother’s death she has spent the last seven years with a cousin in the country. Her cousin is no longer willing to support her and rather than being forced into an unwanted marriage, she dresses in men’s clothes and travels with her pet poodle to London in search of the father she knows nothing about but does have the yearly gifts he sent on her birthdays until her mother’s death.

When she tries to stop the abuse of a horse at a carriage stop, she is knocked down and a trio of young blades come to her aid and befriend her. They assist her in solving the unknown identity of her father, learn her true gender, and then they all must learn to navigate the difference in circumstances for the sexes in Regency London.

I really liked Corrina and her bravery as she sets out on her journey and her determination to live the life she wants without losing her innate kindness to people and animals and her sense of adventure. The author’s research is evident in the description of norms, clothing, and language. All her gentlemen friends are realistic representatives of this period. This story has a mix of romance, a search for personal independence, friendship, adventure, and cute pets. It also demonstrates a balance between light and fun predictability vs. societal norms and strictures.

I recommend curling up in your favorite reading chair with a cuppa and letting this story take you on an enjoyable journey to Regency London.

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Author Bio

Jane Dunn is an historian and biographer and the author of seven acclaimed biographies, including Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters, and the Sunday Times and NYT bestseller, Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. She comes to Boldwood with her first fiction outing – a trilogy of novels set in the Regency period, the first of which, The Marriage Season, is to be published in January 2023. She lives in Berkshire with her husband, the linguist Nicholas Ostler.

Social Media Links

INSTAGRAM 

FACEBOOK 

X (formerly known as Twitter)

BOOKBUB 

GOODREADS

Purchase Links

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | PUBLISHER | BOOKSHOP | BOOKBUB |    GOODREADS

Feature Post and Book Review: Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

Book Description

High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of:her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does. 

Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking. She quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power.

With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they’ve always resisted: depend on each other.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65646968-mother-daughter-murder-night?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=BdnQ89cqIE&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon is both murder mystery and multi-generational family drama combined into one heartfelt and intriguing read. Grandmother, mother, and daughter are reunited by a devastating medical diagnosis and while working through their dysfunctional dynamics they also work together to solve a murder. This is a standalone mystery that could easily become a series if the author wished.

High-powered L.A. real estate mogul, Lana Rubicon is seriously ill and now needs the assistance of her daughter, Beth who lives 300 miles north with her daughter, fifteen-year-old Jacqueline “Jack”. It is a difficult adjustment for everyone.

While Jack is leading a kayak tour of the slough, a dead body is discovered.  When Jack becomes a suspect, Beth begs Lana to hire a criminal lawyer, but the bored Lana decides this is the perfect opportunity to focus on anything but her disease and protect her granddaughter by finding the real murderer. As the women discover a web of family lies, hidden agendas, and land disputes the danger escalates, and they learn that to find the truth they must do something they have never done, depend on one another.

This is a genre mash-up that delivers on both the dysfunctional family drama with humor, tough love, and learning to understand another’s view and an amateur cozy murder mystery that has plenty of twists and red herrings that kept me guessing until the end. The first third of the book leans more towards the family dynamics and discovery of the body and then the investigation plotline of the murder becomes intertwined, and the pace of the amateur investigation increases to the climax. The characters are entertaining and unique, but the family dynamics and interactions make them come to life.

I enjoyed and recommend this unique genre mash-up.

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About the Author

I write crime stories about strong women. My first novel, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT, about a grandma, single mom, and teenage girl who come together to solve a murder mystery, is out now.

Writing is my joy. In college, I was an electrical engineering student by day and a slam poet by night. After a brief stint at NASA, I started designing interactive exhibits and eventually became a museum director. I wrote two books of nonfiction about participatory, relevant cultural institutions. I thought of nonprofits as my “real” job and writing on the side.

Then, my mom got sick. I quit my job to help care for her, and I found myself turning to fiction–crime stories especially–as a way to escape during a hard time. My mom and I both always loved mysteries, and I decided to try to write one myself, with a detective/hero based on her. Now, my mom is doing better, and I’m gratefully spending my days writing, reading, and dreaming up new stories.

I live off-the-grid in the Santa Cruz mountains with my family.

Social Media Links

Website: https://ninaksimon.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ninaksimon

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ninaksimon

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nina-simon