Category: Mystery

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: SONG GIRL: A Mystery in Two Verses by Keith Hirshland

Song Girl: A Mystery in Two Verses

by Keith Hirshland


Categories: Mystery Thriller, Detective/Police Procedural


Tour Dates: April and May, 2022

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SONG GIRL: A Mystery in Two Verses by Keith Hirshland on this Virtual Authors Book Tour.

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

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Book Description

Detective Marc Allen is ready to leave the Raleigh, North Carolina, Police Department. Two murders that happened on his watch have apparently been solved thanks to a suicide note confession written by a distraught father. But Allen isn’t buying it. He’s convinced that the man’s adopted daughter, Teri Hickox, is the one responsible for the heinous crimes. With his personal life a muddle and his professional career unsettled he decides the best thing for him is a change of scenery.

The detective, now in Colorado Springs, is working new cases and making new friends. One of those friends is Hannah Hunt who, after suffering a freak accident, finds herself only able to speak in song titles. Another is a mysterious drifter who lives out of an old Dodge van and goes by “the champ”. But as Allen builds a new future, events unfold showing him that he can’t escape his past.

Song Girl is…

Part sequel to The Flower Girl Murder

Part stand-alone mystery

All entertaining

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59976334-song-girl?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=NBxQhHgXgt&rank=3

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

SONG GIRL: A Mystery in Two Verses by Keith Hirshland is an engaging character driven mystery/police procedural. The main protagonist as well as a few other characters are carried over from the previous book, The Flower Girl Murder, but because this story is in a new location with a new crime mystery, it is easily read as a standalone novel.

Detective Marc Allen is ready for a change in his life. He decides to move from Raleigh, NC to Colorado Springs. CO. He is working with new colleagues on new cases in the police department and he is also making new friends in his personal life.

At the same time, an old case from Raleigh which was supposedly solved with a suicide note becomes active again. Marc was never happy with the case resolution, and he seems to be right. The man left notes for his adopted daughter, and they suggest she is the real killer and when the Raleigh police look for her, they find she has disappeared.

Marc finds building his new future may only be possible if he can resolve his past.

This story is written with wonderful characters that are fully developed and woven together throughout the story. The reader is continually surprised by how each character’s past and revelations fit into the story and effect the present. Marc is trying to build a new life with his new puppy and friends. He is an intelligent and diligent detective that I really like. The secondary characters are all unique and bring not only intrigue, but humor to the story. The plot moves slowly at first as all the players’ histories and pieces of the puzzle are intertwined, but as the plot moves forward the pace picks up. The book was impossible to put down and delivers a big twist at the end.

I highly recommend this fascinating mystery.

***

Excerpt

Hannah decided the best place to have that drink was the bar at the Rabbit Hole so that’s where she went. Dirk wasn’t working and a bartender she didn’t know was.

“Bartender,” she said sitting down.

“Customer,” the bartender said with a smile. “Day drinking?” she asked.

“Does anybody really know what time it is?” Hannah said. This is kinda fun she thought.

“Does anybody really care?” the bartender added.

“It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

“What can I get you?”

“One bourbon, one scotch, one beer.”

“You having a record year?”

“You have no idea.”

“I’ll get your drinks, George Thorogood. By the way you’re a riot.” Hannah’s phone rang; she saw it was Ramp.

“Hi there.” Rampart heard the background noise. “You in a bar?”

“You may be right. Everybody’s drinkin’.”

“Are you at the Rabbit Hole or in a Billy Joel song?” he asked.

“Both.”

“Go slow, we’ll meet you there soon.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” She said and hung up.

“What the heck was that?” Rampart said to his phone. Then he called Tracey back.

“We need to rally the troops,” he said after she had answered.

“Why? What’s up?”

“Hannah’s already at the Rabbit Hole,” he answered and hung up.

In short order Rampart and Tracey made it to the bar, greeted Hannah and ordered drinks. Allen arrived a few minutes after that.

“What’s your pleasure?” the bartender asked him as he sidled up next to Rampart.

“What’s everybody else having?”

“Beer,” she pointed at Ramp. “Ketel One Cosmo,” Tracey was next. “And song girl there is all over the map.” Allen looked at Hannah.

“Song girl?” he said. She just shrugged her shoulders so he turned back to the bartender. “I’ll have a Mad Hatter,” he indicated, asking for the establishment’s signature Manhattan.

“My fav,” she said, walking away. A minute later she was back and setting a glass in front of him. Allen picked it up.

“To Hannah,” he said, “glad you’re back among the living.”

“Salute,” Rampart said, lifting his beer.

“Kampai,” Tracey added.

“Let’s have a party!” called Hannah. They all clinked glasses. They shared some laughs and then some appetizers and about an hour in Hannah had had enough.

“I’m outta here,” she said, standing up.

“So soon?” Tracey asked.

“No time like the present.”

“I’ll give you a lift,” Rampart offered.

“Don’t be silly,” she declined, “I’m walkin’.”

“You sure?”

“I’m positive.”

“See ya Hannah,” Tracey said.

“Take it easy, young lady,” Allen added.

“I’ll call you later,” her brother told her as she started to walk away.

“I’ll be around,” Hannah sang as she headed up the stairs.

“Okay does anybody else think that was incredibly weird?” Rampart asked after Hannah had gone.

“What?” Tracey wondered.

“Hannah, that’s what. The way she talked, the way she acted, what she said. All of it. It was weird.”

“Well Ramp she did just come out of a coma,” Allen argued.

“I realize that and I said that to myself but something is going on.”

“Like what?” Tracey asked.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy butshe’s talking in song titles! Didn’t you notice?”

“I did,” it was the bartender.

“You two are imagining things,” Allen countered.

“Am I? Are we?” He pointed at the bartender. “She called her song girl. And when I spoke with Hannah on the phone earlier, she was here. She said, and I quote, ‘You may be right.’ And then she said—”

“End quote,” the bartender said.

“Excuse me?” Ramp asked.

“You didn’t say end quote after ‘right.’ You said ‘and I quote’ but you didn’t ever say end quote.”

“Seriously?”

“And you were right, she was here.” Tracey chimed in.

“Just stop!” Rampart raised his voice. “When she left she sang ‘I’ll be around.’ That’s an old Spinners song!”

“Ooh, I love that song,” Tracey smiled. “Joan Osborne sang it too.”

“So did Hall and Oates, I think,” the bartender added.

“You people are impossible!” Rampart threw up his hands.

“I’ll have one more Mad Hatter,” Allen told the woman behind the bar.

♪♫♪

***

About the Author

Keith Hirshland is an Emmy Award–winning sports television producer with more than three decades of experience producing live and pre-recorded programs that aired on ESPN and ESPN2. Among the first forty people to be hired by the Golf Channel in 1994, Hirshland was in the middle of the action when that network debuted in 1995. He provided his talents for Golf Channel, as its live tournament producer, for two decades.

Cover Me Boys, I’m Going In: Tales of the Tube from a Broadcast Brat is a memoir about his experiences in the television industry. Published by Beacon Publishing Group, Cover Me Boys was recognized as the Book Talk Radio Club Memoir of the Year. Hirshland’s second book, and first work of fiction, Big Flies, was published in 2016 and is the recipient of the New Apple Awards “Solo Medalist” in the True Crime Category. Hirshland followed that success with his third book, The Flower Girl Murder. In 2020 Beacon Publishing Group released Murphy Murphy and the Case of Serious Crisis, Hirshland’s third mystery novel. It was a Top Shelf Magazine First Place award winner and was named the Book Talk Radio Club Book of the Year for 2020.

Song Girl Hirshland’s fifth book is the sequel to The Flower Girl Murder and was released in January of 2022.  All five books are available at www.keithhirshland.com,  Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other bookstores.

Keith Hirshland lives in Colorado with his wife and their Pyredoodle Mac.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.keithhirshland.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/khhauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KeithHirshlandAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/khhauthor/?hl=en

Purchase Links

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
IndieBound

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Citizen K-9 and Best in Snow by David Rosenfelt

Book Descriptions

Citizen K-9 ‘s plot has a high school friend of the Cold Case Investigative team vanishing. They decide to investigate what happened and are not deterred by threatening incidents. The Paterson Police Department has created a cold case division, and they want to hire the private investigators known as the K Team to investigate the crimes. The team members include Corey Douglas and his K-9 partner, German shepherd Simon Garfunkel, recently retired from the force, Laurie Collins, wife of defense attorney Andy Carpenter, who used to be a cop as well, and Marcus, an enforcer type.

Their first cold case hits home for the K Team. A decade ago, at Laurie’s tenth high school reunion, two of their friends vanished. At the time Laurie had just left the force, and Corey was in a different department, so they had no choice but to watch from the sidelines. With no leads, the case went cold. But now they risk their lives to find out what really happened.

Best In Snow has defense attorney Andy Carpenter’s golden retriever, Tara, discovering a body. The murder victim is Mayor Alex Oliva, who had an infamous relationship with the newspaper. Last year a young reporter published an expose and was fired for libel. Now, the young reporter – and prime suspect– has Andy Carpenter agreeing to take the case. As the evidence piles up Andy must get to the truth to prove his client innocent.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Citizen K-9 and Best in Snow by David Rosenfelt have dogs in the background.  The former movie executive turned author knows how to create a plot that has a good mystery, some action, and likeable characters. These two series usually come out every year.  The “Andy Carpenter series” is more of a legal thriller, while the “Citizen K-9” series delves into Cold Cases and is a spin-off with many characters overlapping between series.

Both these books have an entertaining cast of characters, lots of plot twists and turns, humor, wit, surprises, court room drama, and suspense. Readers will enjoy these reads.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  Role of the dogs?

David Rosenfelt:  In the Andy Carpenter books they are just pets, although they do find bodies. They are not crucial to the books.  In the Citizen K-9 books the dog has a role being a former police dog. One of the books, Play Dead, had a dog that was integral to the plot.  For the first time they put a dog on the cover. It sold like twice as many copies because there was a Golden Retriever on the cover.  With dogs on the cover there had to be dogs in the book. Usually, a dog gets Andy into the case.

EC: Is Citizen K-9 a spinoff of the Andy Carpenter series?

DF: Yes.  It is a third in a series.  For some bizarre reason they are selling well so there will be more stories. Laurie, Andy’s wife, a retired police person, works with others to solve cold cases. I never have a eureka moment with ideas. The Andy Carpenter books are legal thrillers, and this book is a conventional thriller with some humor.

EC:  The retired police dog is named Simon Garfunkel–are you a fan?

DF:  Yes, but that is not why I gave the dog that name. I used the name because I am into dog rescue benefits. I had a character name auctioned off.  The person who won the auction wanted their dog’s name, Simon Garfunkel, to be used in the book.  Since I liked the name, I used it.

EC:  Do you want to tell us about the dog rescue?

DF:  Yes.  Andy Carpenter started a dog rescue in the second book of that series. My wife and I started a dog rescue while living in California after our wonderful Golden Retriever, Tara, died. We started volunteering in the Los Angeles animal shelters, which are horrible.  We did not want to see dogs put down, so we started our own foundation. We ended up rescuing 4,000 dogs.  If one of the dogs was unplaceable they came home as our pet. We never had less than twenty-five dogs in our house. We are dog maniacs.  Right now, we have thirteen because the rescue shelters in New England are terrific.

EC:  Did you have any bad experiences?

DF:  Once, a year and a half collie mix came into the shelter with a broken leg. Nobody would fix it, and nobody would adopt her because of her leg.  Someone working there had moved the dog from cage to cage so her management thought it a different dog.  She brought the dog to a vet. We rescued that dog. She was the greatest dog we had for fourteen years.

EC:  How would you describe Corey, a former police dog handler, now a PI and part of the Cold Case Investigative team. He is the main character in your Canine series books.

DF:  He had an occasional temper. I was looking for different personality traits from Andy.  He is courageous.  He likes to be a rule follower. The means is far more important than the end to him.

EC:  What about Andy from the Best in Snow book?

DF:  Andy is me.  He thinks like I do, and we are in the same world. He has a warped sense of humor like me. He believes the end justifies the means. He is independent, sarcastic, sometimes obnoxiously badgering, no understanding of women. He became wealthy in book 1. 

EC:  How would you describe Laurie, his wife and now PI?

DF:  No nonsense, direct, doesn’t take any gruff. She does have a soft side.  She is very protective of Andy.  In book 4 she received this offer and was pondering leaving Andy.  In book 6 and book 7 I brought her back and put them together.

EC:  Where did Marcus, the enforcer, come from?

DF:  I probably ripped him off from Hawk of the Spencer books. Marcus evolved.  He has a lot of idiosyncrasies. He has this whole other life that Andy does not know about. In this book Marcus speaks for the first time. He loves classical movies.  No one knew he is married and has a child. 

EC:  Next book(s)?

DF: Holy Chow is the next book, coming out in July of this year.  A woman rescued a dog from Andy, and she is murdered. The other book is titled Santa’s Little Yelpers, a Christmas book coming out in October.  In this book Andy represents someone.

THANK YOU!!

***

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: Murder is Not a Girl’s Best Friend by Rob Bates

Murder is Not a Girl’s Best Friend

by Rob Bates

February 28 – March 11, 2022 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on the Partner’s In Crime Virtual Book Tour for the second Diamond District amateur sleuth mystery featuring Mimi Rosen – MURDER IS NOT A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Rob Bates.

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

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Book Description

Journalist-turned-amateur-sleuth Mimi Rosen is back with her father Max for another action-packed tale of murder and intrigue in New York City’s Diamond District.

A Reverend from Africa has found a sparkling $20 million diamond that he hopes will free his continent from the scourge of blood diamonds. But this attempt to do good soon turns very bad. After the diamond is stolen and leads to a series of murders, Mimi discovers both the diamond and the Reverend have a less-than-sparkling history.

Soon, Mimi is investigating a web of secrets involving a shady billionaire, a corrupt politician, Africa’s diamond fields, offshore companies, as well as an activist, filmmaker, computer genius, and police detective who may or may not be as noble as they appear. Is the prized gem actually a blood diamond?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59751045-murder-is-not-a-girls-best-friend?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=jFwaLtuvTI&rank=1

Murder is Not a Girl’s Best Friend

Genre: Mystery
Published by: Camel Press
Publication Date: February 8th 2022
Number of Pages: 218
ISBN: 1942078188 (ISBN13: 9781942078180)
Series: Diamond District, #2 || Each is a Stand-Alone Mystery

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

MURDER IS NOT A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Rob Bates is the second entertaining Diamond District amateur sleuth mystery featuring Mimi Rosen, ex-journalist, now working for her father’s diamond business in New York’s Diamond District. This mystery can easily be read as a standalone.

Mimi Rosen and her father attend a conference about the international diamond trade. Reverend Kamora is from the ADR (African Democratic Republic) who finds a rough piece on his property which is cut into a sixty-six carat D Flawless diamond worth $20 million. He and a diamond broker set up an auction to benefit his country and the diamond miners.

Before the auction can take place, the diamond broker is murdered and the diamond is stolen. Mimi is once again drawn into a murder investigation and discovers everyone is hiding a secret, from a shady billionaire, a corrupt blood diamond industry, an activist, and a documentary filmmaker.

I always learn something new in these Diamond District mysteries. From the strict Jewish traditions in the Diamond District and the type of trade deals made. Mr. Bates demonstrates his knowledge of the diamond industry without slowing the pace of the plot. Mimi is a main character who is likable, but wavers between being at times naïve and at times shrewd when making decisions and understanding clues. This mystery has an eclectic cast of characters who kept me guessing right up until the climax of the story.

Overall, this is a fun amateur sleuth mystery which also educates the reader.

***

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

Mimi Rosen felt terrible. She felt like crap. She was overcome by guilt—the kind that gets lodged in your throat and stays there. Her day at the “Social Responsibility and the Diamond Industry” conference had been draining and dispiriting, as one speaker after another grimly recited the industry’s ills. They acknowledged that conflict diamonds—which fueled civil wars in countries like the African Democratic Republic, or the ADR—were far less of a problem, and many diamond mines benefited local economies.

Then came the “but.” As Mimi’s father said, “in life, there’s always a but.”

“Beautiful gems shouldn’t have ugly histories,” thundered Brandon Walters, a human rights activist known for his scorching exposés of the ADR’s diamond industry. “This—” he aimed his finger at the screen behind him, “is how ten percent of the world’s diamonds are found.”

Up popped a photo of an African boy, who couldn’t have been older than sixteen. He was standing in a river the color of rust, wearing nothing but cut-off jeans, bending over with a strainer. Mimi could see his vertebrae under his skin, feel the sun beating down on him, sense the stress and strain on his back.

“That kid is paid two dollars a day for his labor,” Walters declared. “If you sell diamonds, this may not be your fault.” He paused for emphasis. “But it is your responsibility.”

Walters had sandy-blonde hair, high cheekbones, a perfectly trimmed goatee, a ponytail that flopped as he talked, and a South African accent was so plummy it sounded affected. He looked to be in his mid-twenties but had the bearing and confidence of someone ten years older. Unlike the other activists, who delivered their speeches in whispery monotones with their eyes glued to the podium, Walters planted his feet firmly at the center of the stage and stood on it like he owned it. He peppered his talk with splashes of theater, dropping his voice to signal despair, or cranking it up to roar disapproval.

Mimi didn’t want to close her eyes to his message, but knew she might have to, to preserve her sanity. Diamonds were now how she made her living. She had been working at her father’s company for over a year—a fact she sometimes found hard to believe. She occasionally dreamed of again working as a reporter—the only thing in life she had ever wanted to be. But journalism had become an industry that people escaped from, rather than to.

She had hoped the conference would inspire her. She had even convinced her father, Max, to come. Instead, the sessions made her feel depressed and sorry for herself—which didn’t feel right, as she was hearing about extreme poverty in a plush New York City auditorium with the air conditioning cranked, while the summer sun broiled the streets outside.

She also knew the industry’s problems weren’t so easy to fix. When Mimi started working at her dad’s company, Max seemed intrigued by her idea of a socially-responsible diamond brand. She was excited to help change the industry.

Then the project ran into roadblocks. She never quite determined what a “good” diamond was. What if it was unearthed by one of the diggers Brandon Walters talked about, who earned two dollars a day? Human rights activists condemned that as exploitive. Yet, they also admitted those workers had few other sources of income and would be far worse off if the industry vanished. They didn’t want to kill the business; they wanted to reform it. Mimi wasn’t an expert on any of this—and even those who were didn’t always agree.

Mimi spent many nights and weekends researching these issues, and ended up frustrated, as the answers she sought just weren’t there.

When her project began losing money, her father started losing patience. Mimi hoped that dragging her father to this conference would reignite his interest. Nope.

“These people act like everything is our fault. All minerals have issues.” Like many in the diamond business, Max believed his industry was unfairly picked on. He fixed his yarmulke on his bald head, so it stayed bobby pinned to one of his side-tufts of hair. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m only trying to pay my rent.”

Max spent most of the conference with his arms crossed, his face toggling between bored and annoyed. If he had a phone, he’d probably spend the day staring at it. But he didn’t, which was another issue.

Following Walters’ talk, he leaned over to Mimi. “I should call Channah for my messages.”

Mimi gave him her mobile and a dirty look. He had already borrowed her phone six times that day. She considered lecturing her father to get over his stupid aversion to buying a cell phone, so he didn’t constantly pester the receptionist to see who called. But she’d also done that six times that day.

Besides, she was intrigued by the day’s final speaker.

Abraham Boasberg grabbed the crowd’s attention the moment he stepped on stage. “I believe there is a reason that God put diamonds in the poor countries and made rich countries desire them,” he bellowed, puffing out his barrel chest. “And I’m going to prove it.”

Mimi sat up and thought, who was this guy?

She soon found out. Boasberg was six feet tall, stocky, bearded, with a bright red yarmulke capping a salt-and-pepper mop of curly hair. He worked in the diamond business, and his words came fast and forceful. Like Brandon Walters, he seemed to savor being the center of attention. He had a mike clipped to his suit and prowled the stage like a panther. His presence filled the auditorium.

“This whole conference, we have heard about the problems of our trade. They are real. The people who dig diamonds are part of our industry. They deserve to be treated fairly.

“But we must do more than just complain,” he declared, holding up his index finger. “We need solutions!

“What if diamonds, which once helped rip the African Democratic Republic apart, could put it back together? What if they built new roads, schools, and hospitals?” He stopped and took a breath, his chest heaving. “What if diamonds became symbols of hope?”

Max returned to his seat and handed Mimi back her phone. She was so entranced with Boasberg, she barely noticed.

“A few months ago,” Boasberg proclaimed, “a local Reverend in the African Democratic Republic found a one-hundred-and-seventeen-carat piece of rough on his property. It has since been cut into a sixty- six-carat piece of polished, about the size of a marble. It has been graded D Flawless, the highest grade a diamond can get. It’s the most valuable diamond ever found in the ADR. It’s worth twenty million. Easy.”

A giant triangular gem appeared on the screen behind him, gleaming like a sparkly pyramid.

Max’s eyebrows shot up. This guy was talking diamond talk, a language he understood.

“But that is more than a beautiful diamond.” Boasberg declared, sweat beading on his forehead. “That is the future.”

“Here’s what usually happens with diamonds in the ADR. In most cases, miners hand them over to their supporter, who’s basically their boss who pays their bupkis. Or, if they’re freelance, they’ll sell them to a local dealer, who pays them far below market value. The miners don’t know how much the diamonds are worth, and they’re usually hungry and just want a quick buck.

“And since the ADR has no money to police its borders, most dealers smuggle diamonds out of the country to avoid taxes. As a result, the ADR gains little from what comes out of its soil. Its resources are being systematically looted.

“When I met Reverend Kamora, I told him, consumers are turning away from diamonds because they believe they don’t help countries like yours. That further hurts your people. Now, instead of working for two dollars a day, they’ll do the same work for even less.

“But what if we can flip the script? What if this diamond helps your country? And what if we let people know that? That will increase its value. It’s documented that people will pay extra for products that do good, like Fair Trade Coffee. It’s the same reason kosher food is more expensive. It’s held to a higher standard.

“If we get more money for this diamond, soon every gem from the ADR will be sold this way. We’ll do an end run around the dealers who have robbed the country blind. We’ll turn ADR diamonds into a force for good.” He pivoted to the screen. “Let’s talk about this gorgeous gemstone.

We wanted to call it the Hope Diamond. That name was taken.” A few members of the audience tittered.

“We’re calling it the Hope for Humanity Diamond. Four weeks from now, we’ll auction it from my office, live on the Internet. We want the whole world to watch. We’ll even sell it in a beautiful box produced with locally mined gold.” On screen, a glittering yellow box appeared. The diamond sat inside it, perched like a king on a throne….

***

Author Bio

Rob Bates has written about the diamond industry for close to 30 years. He is currently the news director of JCK, the leading publication in the jewelry industry, which just celebrated its 150th anniversary. He has won 12 editorial awards, and been quoted as an industry authority in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and on National Public Radio. He is also a comedy writer and performer, whose work has appeared on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update segment, comedycentral.com, and Mcsweeneys He has also written for Time Out New York, New York Newsday, and Fastcompany.com. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and son.

Social Media Links

RobBatesAuthor.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @robbates922
Instagram – @robbatesauthor
Twitter – @robbatesauthor
Facebook – @robbatesauthor

Purchase Links 

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble 

Goodreads

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Vice & Virtue by Justin M. Kiska

Vice & Virtue

by Justin M. Kiska

February 14 – March 11, 2022 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour and I will be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for VICE & VIRTUE (Parker City Mystery Book #2) by Justin M. Kiska.

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

***

Book Description

Parker City, 1984…

Three years after the Spring Strangler case rocked the historic Western Maryland city nestled at the foot of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, life has returned to normal for Detective Ben Winters and his partner, Tommy Mason. With a new chief now leading the department and the city slowly crawling out of its economic distress, everything seems to be moving in the right direction.

Until one sweltering summer day, a killer begins targeting police officers. Ben and Tommy find themselves once again leading an investigation the likes of which Parker City has never seen. The detectives quickly come to realize that until the shooter is found, everyone wearing a badge is in danger. To complicate matters even further, when a recently unearthed skeleton mysteriously connects to the string of police homicides, Ben and Tommy begin to think their current case may be tied to events twenty years earlier.

But how could a skeleton buried two decades ago hold the key to solving their current case?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59830246-vice-virtue?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Jg6QtFfnds&rank=1

VICE & VIRTUE

Parker City Mystery #2

Genre: Mystery
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: February 15, 2022
Number of Pages: 288
ISBN: 978-1-68512-069-6
Series: Parker City Mysteries, #2 || Each book is a stand alone novel.

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

VICE & VIRTUE (A Parker City Mystery Book #2) by Justin M. Kiska is an engaging and gripping mystery/crime thriller/police procedural in the Parker City Mystery series. I am very surprised after reading the first book in this series, Now & Then that there is even a second book. (When and if you read the first book, which I highly recommend, you will understand my surprise.) This book is easily read as a standalone.

As Parker City begins to revitalize and rebuild, a skeleton is found under an old, condemned warehouse. Detective Sergeant Ben Winters and his partner Detective Tommy Mason are called to the scene.

Just as they begin to investigate the discovered skeleton, they are called to the murder scene of a fellow law enforcement officer. The old case goes on the back burner when a second and third officer are killed. As Parker City is just getting over the serial killer case from three years ago, Ben and Tommy now have a cop killer on the loose.

Ben and Tommy realize until they solve this case, all of their fellow officers are in danger But what they only come to realize as they work the current case is that the old skeleton from the warehouse may be tied to their present day murders.

I am as impressed with this second book as I was with the first. Mr. Kiska is very adept at plotting two timelines that intertwine with plenty of plot twists and are as equally important to the solution of the detectives’ current cases in the 1980’s as the older case from the 1950’s. Both main characters, Detective Sergeant Ben Winters and his partner, Detective Tommy Mason are fully fleshed, realistic, and likable. Their dialogue and banter is believable and enjoyable. A few of the secondary characters are a bit cliché, but not so much as to detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I highly recommend this mystery/crime thriller with two detectives I want to continue to follow in any decade in future books.

***

Excerpt

Tall and athletic, Tommy Mason always reminded Ben of Tom Selleck’s Magnum P.I. character from television. Tommy always had that whole ruggedly handsome thing going for him. Mixed with a little bit of a “bad boy” vibe and he drove the women wild.

Next to Ben’s clean-cut, buttoned-down appearance, their pairing caused many to do a doubletake. At first glance, they appeared to be complete opposites. But as one got to know them, they were very much alike. Each brought out the best in the other and at the end of the day, it was all about getting the job done. Sure, each had his own style, but that’s what made them such a formidable team.

Tommy’s apparent willingness to skirt the rules was always offset by Ben’s ability to find ways to use the rules to their benefit. Just as Ben’s refusal to play the internal politics game allowed Tommy to use his charm to keep too many feathers from getting ruffled amongst the powers-that-be. They each knew the other’s strengths and weaknesses and how to adapt them to their own, which is why they’d been so impressive in getting the PCPD’s Detective Squad off the ground.

“What are you doing here?” Ben asked, more than a little surprised to see his partner.

“Shirley from Dispatch called me. She thought I’d be interested,” Tommy explained. “And before you say anything about what I’m wearing, I just want to remind you, it is our day off, so I didn’t think I needed to get dressed up to come to a potential crime scene. Especially when we don’t actually know this is a crime scene yet.”

He was referring to the fact he had on a T-shirt and comfortable pair of jeans, as opposed to the full suit and tie Ben was wearing.

“Besides, now you don’t have to worry about getting your fancy suit muddy. I have no problems getting down there in the dirt,” Tommy smiled, pointing at the fresh mud stains on his knees. With that, he knelt back down to take another look at the exposed skeletal remains under the floorboards.

“So, tell me. What do we have?” Ben asked, crouching next to Tommy so he could get a better look.

“You can see there’s a pretty big cavity here under this part of the floor,” Tommy pointed out. “It’s got to be a good ten by ten area where the ground has been eaten away, even though it’s not too deep, less than a foot in some places. It’s definitely because of water…there’s a lot of mud down there. As the earth under the floor eroded, it uncovered the skeleton. Partway, at least. Of course, no one could see what was happening under here until our friend Mr. Haggarty had the unfortunate experience of stepping on a board that was rotted through and it snapped, sending him falling through the floor. You can see where he landed in the mud.

“And right there,” Tommy pointed, “you see the skull and top portion of the skeleton sticking out of the ground.”

“You came face-to-face with that thing, man?” Tommy looked over at the construction worker who was leaning against the wall. “Not a good way to start the day.”

“Yeah. You’re telling me,” Haggarty answered.

Turning back to the skeleton, Tommy said, “I’m no expert, but that hole in the skull right there…see it, it looks like it could be a GSW from a pretty heavy caliber gun.”

Leaning down and twisting his head so he could try and get a better look at the skull, Ben saw the hole and wondered if his partner was right. Finding a skeleton buried under the floor was one thing. Finding a skeleton buried under the floor with a bullet hole in its skull was something else. It took everything to a different level.

Standing and stretching their legs, Tommy said, “When Shirley first called me, I thought this was going to have been some kind of prank. Some kids snuck into the site on a dare and left a skeleton for the crew to find.”

“You thought kids somehow buried a skeleton under this building in the hopes someone would fall through the floor and find it?” Ben asked, raising an eyebrow. “Not to mention having to figure out how to bury the thing under the floor?”

“In my defense,” Tommy started, raising a finger and shaking it at his partner, “I didn’t know the skeleton was buried under the warehouse. I just knew they’d found a skeleton at the warehouse.”

The first thing that needed to happen was to get the skeleton out of the ground. That would be up to the crime scene techs. Even though he could easily reach in and pull the skull out to get a better look, Ben didn’t want to disturb anything more than it already had been when Lance Haggarty crashed through the floor. Thankfully, he hadn’t actually landed on the skull itself.

“So much for our day off,” Ben said, looking at his watch, wondering where the crime scene guys were.

***

Author Bio

When not sitting in his library devising new and clever ways to kill people (for his mysteries), Justin can usually be found at The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre, outside of Washington, DC, where he is one of the owners and producers. In addition to writing the Parker City Mysteries Series, he is also the mastermind behind Marquee Mysteries, a series of interactive mystery events he has been writing and producing for over fifteen years. Justin and his wife, Jessica, live along Lake Linganore outside of Frederick, Maryland.

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JustinKiska.com
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Twitter – @JustinKiska
Facebook – @JMKiska

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Olive Bright, Pigeoneer and A Valiant Deceit by Stephanie Graves

Elise’s Thoughts

Olive Bright Pigeoneer and A Valiant Deceit by Stephanie Graves are the latest books in her new historical mystery series. It features Olive Bright, a spirited young pigeon fancier who finds herself working for a secret British intelligence agency, while in her spare time solving mysteries. These books are set in England during World War II where the reader gets a close look at life in a small English town.

The first book has twenty-two-year-old Olive Bright helping at her father’s veterinary practice and tending to her beloved racing pigeons. Desperate to do her bit, Olive hopes that the National Pigeon Service will enlist Bright Lofts’ expertise, and use their highly trained birds to deliver critical, coded messages for His Majesty’s Forces. But it was not the National Pigeon Service that recruits her but a secret intelligence organization, Baker Street. Captain Jameson Aldridge and his associate are tied to this covert British intelligence organization. If Olive wants her pigeons to help the war effort, she must do so in complete secrecy, which includes using the cover story of a fake romance with the captain as she prepares her birds to help with covert operations.

To protect the secrecy of their work Olive and Aldridge continue their ruse of being romantically involved, a task made difficult when both realize they have feelings for the other.  Neither will admit their desires. Olive is intelligent, spunky, brave, at times reckless, and energetic. Aldridge is gruff, enigmatic, at times condescending, prickly, and brash.

The second book has Olive continuing her adventures in helping the war effort and solving mysteries.  She is a FANY, First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, hoping she can step up her involvement in the war effort.  Her pigeons are being conscripted to aid the Belgian resistance, and it’s up to Olive to choose the best birds for the mission, even looking for some in her dovecote that have Belgian heritage.

The first book is more of mystery where Olive must solve the killing of a community busybody Miss Husselbee in the small town of Pipley in Hertfordshire Bustles. She resolves to use the skills she’s learned from reading Agatha Christie novels to solve the crime.

The second book is more of a thriller after Lt. Jeremy Beckett, an instructor at Station XVII, the top-secret training school, housed at Brickendonbury Manor, is found dead. Even though the police determine his death to be an accident, Olive feels there are suspicious circumstances considering Beckett was carrying a coded message in his pocket and a map of Germany clutched in one hand. In both books she stops at nothing to find the truth, including risking her own life.  Olive is becoming a very good investigator as she uses the tools of Hercule Poirot, her literary hero.

These books are great reads with the witty dialogue, responses, one-liners, and banter between the two characters. The mystery storyline had plenty of suspects, suspicious behavior, clues, and red herrings. A bonus were the fascinating tidbits about the role of the pigeons during World War II as part of the British spy operations.  These books show why Graves did not have a sophomore jinx.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for the series?

Stephanie Graves:  A long time ago, when my kids were little, I took them to see “Valiant,” The Disney movie, loosely based on the contributions of pigeons during WWII.  The blurb at the end of the movie captivated me.  After writing romance novels, I decided to try writing historical fiction set in WWII.  It was waiting in the wings at the back of my brain and took off from there.  My research was very interesting and helped me develop the story.

EC:  How would you describe Olive?

SG:  A tomboy, optimistic, determined, impulsive, and helpful.  She wants to do her bit for the war effort.  She always wants to see justice done.  She has a fighting spirit, resourceful, intuitive, at times argumentative.

EC:  The role of the pigeons?

SG:  I hope readers get a glimpse through the facts provided. Olive did name the pigeons after children’s literature characters, including Mary Poppins. They have a significant role in the book considering they are the reason Olive gets involved with the British intelligence organization.  From her perspective the birds are doing the work while she selects them, trains them, and feeds them. The birds are the ones taking all the risks:  getting killed by snipers or eaten by other animals.  In book one it was a letdown for her.  In book two it is a way to do more for the war effort to be in the thick of it all.

EC:  How would you describe Captain Jamie Aldridge?

SG:  A sort of by the book person.  He is a bit resentful because of his injury and must be at a desk job.  He is serious, cautious, at times disagreeable, condescending, and sarcastic. He is uncomfortable around cats.

EC:  How about the relationship?

SG:  At first Aldridge is resentful of Olive and does not appreciate her being so argumentative. He tries to reign her impulsiveness in because he is worried about her safety. They know how to push each other’s buttons. In book one it was very prickly where she did not like him at all, felt he had no need to interact with her, and was very irritated with her.  He was grumpy and she was exasperated with him.  At the end of book two they are coming to understand and respect each other with a connection. There is a subtle affection. He has a soft spot for her but does not want to acknowledge it, while she is frustrated.

EC:  What about the role of WWII and the mystery?

SG:  In the first book the mystery aspect is detached from what is going on in the war. It is more about the killing of a villager. In the second book, that murder is on the war side. I also explain in the second book how the Germans confiscated and killed pigeons, which played a role in the mystery. They were aware of how the Allies used pigeons. They trained Falcons to intercept as the pigeons were flying home across the channel.

EC:  Please explain a FANY?

SG:  FANY stands for First Aid Nursing Yeomanry.  It started before the First World War.  Originally, they were like combat medics working between the field hospitals and the front line. Into WWII they expanded a lot including mechanics, driving ambulances, and nursing.  They really did everything.  Some of them became actual secret agents themselves.  Whatever was necessary the FANY would do it.

EC:  In the first book Olive was acting like Miss Marple but in the second book acted like Poirot?

SG:  Poirot was a character of Christie. Most of her books are Miss Marple or Poirot, Olive’s favorite.  Poirot likes to make lists, asks questions, and feels the murderer must be found at all costs. She wanted to take a page from him.

EC:  Next book?

SG:  The working title is A Courage Undimmed and will be out in a year.  It is another Olive book, still working as a FANY and unofficially training to be an agent. There is also a village mystery with a visit from the actual Ian Fleming.

THANK YOU!!

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: The Man With the Golden Mind by Tom Vater

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN MIND (Detective Maier Mystery Book #2) by Tom Vater.

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

Detective Maier has a new case. This time it is a cold case: investigating the death of Julia Rendel’s father, an East German culture attaché who was killed near a fabled CIA airbase in central Laos in 1976.

But before the detective can set off, his client is kidnapped right out of his arms. Maier follows Julia’s trail to the Laotian capital Vientiane, where he learns different parties, including his missing client, are searching for a legendary CIA file crammed with Cold War secrets.

The real prize, however, is the file’s author: someone codenamed Weltmeister, a former US and Vietnamese spy and assassin no one has seen for a quarter century. Racing against time, Maier needs to dig deep into the past – including his own – in order to make sense of the present.

The second book in Tom Vater’s Detective Maier Mysteries series, The Man With The Golden Mind is an action-packed thriller with plenty of sex, drugs, assassinations and double-crosses.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18490900-the-man-with-the-golden-mind?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=inYT8WylWK&rank=1

The Man With the Golden Mind

Detective Maier Mystery Book #2

  • Genre: Crime
  • Print length: 239
  • Suitable for young adults? No
  • Trigger warnings: graphic violence
  • Amazon Rating: 4.5 stars

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN MIND (Detective Maier Mystery Book #2) by Tom Vater is the second noir crime fiction/spy thriller which takes the reader on an intriguing, atmospheric and thrilling trip into Asia with German war correspondent turned private investigator Maier. While his last adventure took him back to Cambodia, this time he is sent to investigate a twenty-five-year-old case in Laos.

Julia Rendel hires Maier to investigate what happened to her East German cultural attaché father who was murdered twenty-five-years-ago in Long Cheng, a CIA run airbase in Laos during the Vietnamese war. Before the two can even begin their journey to Laos, Julia is kidnapped right from under Maier in their hotel room.

Maier arrives in Laos and is immediately dragged along by circumstances rather than following a step-by-step investigation. Maier learns his information is far from complete and he ends up searching not only for his missing client and answers from the past, but also a cache of gold, a legendary CIA file and a spy who does not wish to come in from the cold.

I found the intriguing and unique characters, the vividly drawn atmosphere and locations and the surprising twists and action kept me turning the pages. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but eventually they sort themselves out and the plot moves along at a fast pace. I was surprised by the return of a character from the first book and with his return comes a very unexpected plot twist. The author steeped me in the atmosphere and culture of Laos, past and present which made it a unique read. While this is not an easy book to read, the characters, location and plot all come together to make it a very special noir crime fiction/spy thriller book to read.

***

About the Author

Tom Vater is an Asia-based writer.

He has published some 20 books – four novels, nonfiction, illustrated books and guidebooks, all on Asian subjects.

Tom has written four crime fiction novels. The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu – the third English language edition out with Next Chapter out now – is a travel thriller set on the 70s hippie trail between London and Kathmandu. A Spanish translation is out with ExploraEditorial.

The Detective Maier trilogy – The Cambodian Book of the Dead, The Man with the Golden Mind and the The Monsoon Ghost Image, a Southeast Asia series of novels follows the exploits of a former conflict journalist turned private eye.

Tom has written for The Guardian, The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph, the Nikkei Asian Review and many other publications. He co-authored Sacred Skin – Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos (2011), a notable bestseller. He is also co-author of several documentary screenplays, including The Most Secret Place on Earth (2008), a feature on the CIA’s covert war in Laos in the 60s and 70s.

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