Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Lethal Game by John Gilstrap

Book Description

Hostage rescue expert Jonathan Grave and his fellow special-ops veteran, Boxers, are hunting in Montana when shots ring out, and they realize they’ve become the prey for assassins. In the crosshairs of unseen shooters, cut off from all communication, with the wind at a blood-freezing chill, the nightmare is just beginning. Because Jonathan and Boxers aren’t the only ones under fire.

Back in Fisherman’s Cove, Virginia, Jonathan’s Security Solutions team is fighting for their lives too. A vicious onslaught is clearing the way for a much bigger game by eliminating anyone in the way. If Jonathan and Boxers can make it out of the wilderness alive, the real war will begin.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Lethal Game by John Gilstrap will remind readers of another thriller writer.  Gilstrap has a lot in common with Vince Flynn besides a fantastic, formidable character named Irene.  They both have great suspenseful plots with plenty of action, emotion, and gun fights, as well as very well-developed characters who make up the team.  This is Part I and Part II will delve into the books that introduced the characters.

This plot turns the usual story on its head with the hunters becoming the hunted and the team needing to rescue themselves. The crew of Gail Bonneville, Venice Alexander, Jonathan Grave, Brian Van Muelebroecke (Boxers), and Irene Rivers, must find out who is sending assassins. Usually, the team of covert hostage rescuers finds the kidnapped victim with the bad guys having their demise. But in this case Jonathan and Boxers, while hunting in Montana, are the targets.  That attack is coordinated with attacks home in Fisherman’s Cove, Virginia where Gail and Venice are also fired upon. The enemy is unknown but it’s clear they want revenge and will go to great lengths to destroy everyone on the team. The four, while investigating, know they must transition from defense to offense and take the fight right to the enemy. Readers are able to get into the minds of the characters, feeling as if they are being spoken to themselves.

In this series, readers should not expect innocents to escape the violence.  Elderly characters and children are put in harm’s way and do not escape with their lives.  The bad guys are cartel members and just as in real life Gilstrap shows the intensity of violence where they have feelings of anger, disgust, and contempt.

This plot is fast-paced, engrossing, and intriguing.  If this book is someone’s first introduction into the series, they will realize what they have been missing and want to read the earlier novels.  It is written as a stand-alone so no one will have any trouble keeping up. 

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Author Interview

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

John Gilstrap:  This is the 14th book in the series with the same characters, and it will not end anytime soon.  The idea for the series came from a non-fiction book I wrote, Six Minutes to Freedom back in 2006.  I had extraordinary access and did a lot of research about the Special Forces Delta Force group. I then decided to write a fictional book with a group that does the hostage rescue domestically. I stay in the Western Hemisphere for the team, with the cartels as the bad guys.

EC:  Can you tell us a little something about the non-fiction book?

JG:  Kurt Muse in the late 1980s did a clandestine radio campaign urging the people of Panama to rise for freedom. He was subsequently arrested, imprisoned, and rescued by the elite Delta Force. After the US invaded Panama, they rescued him from the prison where Manuel Noriega held him as a political prisoner.

EC:  Did your professional experience help you to write the series?

JG:  For fifteen years I was a firefighter and EMT. We had a very good sense of camaraderie and mission.  We wanted to make sure the mission was accomplished quickly, efficiently, safely, with as many lives saved. This focus was built into me, which I gave my characters.  I want to show in the books how violence is real and happens with blistering speed that has devastating consequences, which is why there are civilian collateral damage.

EC:  Are you a hunter considering there are details about hunting?

JG:  I am recently a hunter, having moved to West Virginia. I hunt deers and hogs.  The look and feel for hunting is from personal experience.

EC:  How did you get the idea for this story?

JQ: It occurred to me on a hunting trip. I was in a shed waiting for a hog to come by.  I sat for a long time and just was thinking. I realized how vulnerable I was if someone wanted to hunt me while I was hunting an animal. This was the beginning of the plot where someone was hunting for Jonathan and the team, with the rest of the book solving the question, who and why were they hunting the group? In the previous book, Stealth Attack, I opened the door for why they were being hunted.

EC:  How would you describe the team?

JG:  Gail is the adult in the room. Boxer is the violent one. Jonathan is the thinker. Venice is the computer hacker with many skills.  They share a very strong ethical and moral standard that centers around justice. Good and bad for them is not defined as legal and illegal. They have a passion for the mission. They are all gutsy, loyal, intelligent, feisty, adrenaline junkies, and risk-takers.

EC:  You have a quote in the book which explains their thinking and mission.  Please explain.

JG:  You are referring to this one, “While Feebs and local Swat teams were consumed by cumbersome procedures designed to cover their asses and rights of the bad guys, Jonathan and his team did what had to be done and left with the hostages that they rescued.” I have many good friends that are on hostage rescue teams and Swat teams.  In the US when someone is kidnapped their primary mission is not to rescue the hostage.  Their mission is to make sure the bad guy does not legally get away. But of course, they want the hostages rescued.  The regulations require that warrants are issued before they can crash a door or listen in. If they violate those rights, then the case gets thrown out in court. Jonathan and his team does not have that burden. I also put this quote in the book, which was told to me by a friend, “A hostage situation is a homicide in slow motion.”

EC: How would you describe Irene?

JG:  When the team utilizes FBI Director Irene Rivers it must be off the record. They operate in the place of justice, not in the place of legality. Her name came from my mothers-in-law first name. She was first introduced in 1998 in my second book, At All Costs.  She is a single mom and used to be a badass field agent. In the story, Soft Targets is where Jonathan meets Irene after her children were kidnapped.  She is much more politically aware and savvy than the rest of the team.

EC:  In your book world there are no term limits for the US President?

JG: President Tony Darmond is very corrupt without any moral standing.  He has been President for fifteen years because I do not advance time. Irene must work behind the scenes to make sure nothing goes back to Darmond. Her and Jonathan’s team realize politicians do not want to solve problems. I think these books are very timely because of Fentanyl coming across the border plus how the Cartels are involved with the human trafficking trade.

EC:  Why compare the team to Batman?

JG:  My son who is now 36 has always been fascinated with everything Batman.  I brought Batman in because it is an Easter Egg for me and the family. Every book has a reference to Batman. The team and Batman are similar in that they are the strangers who sets things straight, wants justice, and works outside the lines. 

EC:  Your next books?

JG:  My next book is not a Grave book.  It is titled White Smoke, the third book of a trilogy coming out next March.  It features Victoria Emerson, a former Congresswoman.  She is the leader of a society after a nuclear holocaust that is trying to put the world back together.

The book I am writing now, the next Grave book, will probably take place in Venezuela but will also bring in some Russian activity. It is called Harm’s Way where missionaries are kidnapped. It comes out in June of next year.

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.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Point Last Seen by Christina Dodd

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for POINT LAST SEEN (Last Seen in Gothic Book #1) by Christina Dodd on this HQN books blog tour.

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

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Book Summary

 From New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd comes a brand new suspense about a reclusive artist who retrieves a seemingly dead woman from the Pacific Ocean…only to have her come back to life with no memory of what happened to her. With a strong female protagonist, a chilling villain, and twisty secrets that will keep you turning the pages.

LIFE LAST SEEN

When you’ve already died, there should be nothing left to fear… When Adam Ramsdell pulls Elle’s half-frozen body from the surf on a lonely California beach, she has no memory of what her full name is and how she got those bruises ringing her throat.

GIRL LAST SEEN

Elle finds refuge in Adam’s home on the edge of Gothic, a remote village located between the steep lonely mountains and the raging Pacific Ocean. As flashes of her memory return, Elle faces a terrible truth—buried in her mind lurks a secret so dark it could get her killed.

POINT LAST SEEN

Everyone in Gothic seems to hide a dark past. Even Adam knows more than he will admit. Until Elle can unravel the truth, she doesn’t know who to trust, when to run and who else might be hurt when the killer who stalks her nightmares appears to finish what he started…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59452684-point-last-seen?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=kmJVjZTJSl&rank=3

POINT LAST SEEN

Author: Christina Dodd

ISBN: 9781335623973

Publication Date: June 21, 2022

Publisher: HQN Books

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

POINT LAST SEEN (Last Seen in Gothic Book #1) by Christina Dodd is the first action-packed romantic suspense in this new series written with plenty of thrills and quirky inhabitants in the small Pacific coastal town of Gothic.

Adam Ramsdell has found the privacy he seeks in Gothic, CA as he works to turn salvaged metal into works of art and works as an armorer. When the local fortune teller tells Adam he must go the beach, he goes for the peace the ocean brings him but discovers a half-frozen body being tossed out onto the beach. He believes she is dead until he throws her over his shoulder to carry to his ATV and she revives as she brings up the sea water trapped in her lungs.

Elle has no memory of how she ended up on the beach, but she knows she has been strangled, beaten and is deathly afraid of a large dark shadow. As flashes of memory slowly return, she begins to endear herself to the people of Gothic and discover Adam’s secrets. She cannot remember much, but she knows she can trust Adam to protect her.

As Elle works to recover her memory, she doesn’t realize that those out to end her life are near and Adam has his own demons from his past that may well be out for revenge also. Will they be able to survive their pasts for a future together?

There are several plot threads throughout this romantic suspense that all come together to make a wonderful read. Adam is the tortured hero with the difficult past and his transformation from loner to lover was well paced and believable because the town already looked up to him even though he did not acknowledge it. Elle is a strong and determined heroine even without her memory, she asked for the help she needed it, but also stood up for herself. The town’s cast of characters were quirky and added some humor to the story as well as hiding secrets that I hope will be divulged in future books in this series. After the HEA, I assume each new book will have a new H/h and the town’s cast of characters and the location itself is what will be continued in this series. I will be looking forward to more.

This is a romantic suspense that will keep you reading until the very end.

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Excerpt

two

A Morning in February

Gothic, California

The storm off the Pacific had been brutal, a relentless night of cold rain and shrieking wind. Adam Ramsdell had spent the hours working, welding and polishing a tall, heavy, massive piece of sculpture, not hearing the wailing voices that lamented their own passing, not shuddering when he caught sight of his own face in the polished stainless steel. He sweated as he moved swiftly to capture the image he saw in his mind, a clawed monster rising from the deep: beautiful, deadly, dangerous.

And as always, when dawn broke, the storm moved on and he stepped away, he realized he had failed.

Impatient, he shoved the trolley that held the sculpture toward the wall. One of claws swiped his bare chest and proved to him he’d done one thing right: razor-sharp, it opened a long, thin gash in his skin. Blood oozed to the surface. He used his toe to lock the wheels on the trolley, securing the sculpture in case of the occasional California earth tremor.

Then with the swift efficiency of someone who had dealt with minor wounds, his own and others’, he found a clean towel and stanched the flow. Going into the tiny bathroom, he washed the site and used superglue to close the gash. The cut wasn’t deep; it would hold.

He tied on his running shoes and stepped outside into the short, bent, wet grass that covered his acreage. The rosemary hedge that grew at the edge of his front porch released its woody scent. The newly washed sunlight had burned away the fog, and Adam started running uphill toward town, determined to get breakfast, then come home to bed. Now that the sculpture was done and the storm had passed, he needed the bliss of oblivion, the moments of peace sleep could give him.

Yet every year as the Ides of March and the anniversary of his failure approached, nightmares tracked through his sleep and followed him into the light. They were never the same but always a variation on a theme: he had failed, and in two separate incidents, people had died…

The route was all uphill; nevertheless, each step was swift and precise. The sodden grasses bent beneath his running shoes. He never slipped; a man could die from a single slip. He’d always known that, but now, five years later, he knew it in ways he could never forget.

As he ran, he shed the weariness of a long night of cutting, grinding, hammering, polishing. He reached the asphalt and he lengthened his stride, increased his pace.

He ran past the cemetery where a woman knelt to take a chalk etching of a crumbling headstone, past the Gothic Museum run by local historian Freya Goodnight.

The Gothic General Store stood on the outside of the lowest curve of the road. Today the parking lot was empty, the rockers were unoccupied, and the store’s sixteen-year-old clerk lounged in the open door. “How you doing, Mr. Ramsdell?” she called.

He lifted his hand. “Hi, Tamalyn.”

She giggled.

Somehow, on the basis of him waving and remembering her name, she had fallen in love with him. He reminded himself that the dearth of male teens in the area left him little competition, but he could feel her watching him as he ran past the tiny hair salon where Daphne was cutting a local rancher’s hair in the outdoor barber chair.

His body urged him to slow to a walk, but he deliberately pushed himself.

Every time he took a turn, he looked up at Widow’s Peak, the rocky ridge that overshadowed the town, and the Tower, the edifice built by the Swedish silent-film star who in the early 1930s had bought land and created the town to her specifications.

At last he saw his destination, the Live Oak, a four-star restaurant in a one-star town. The three-story building stood at the corner of the highest hairpin turn and housed the eatery and three exclusive suites available for rent.

When Adam arrived he was gasping, sweating, holding his side. Since his return from the Amazon basin, he had never completely recovered his stamina.

Irksome.

At the corner of the building, he turned to look out at the view.

The vista was magnificent: spring-green slopes, wave-battered sea stacks, the ocean’s endless surges, and the horizon that stretched to eternity. During the Gothic jeep tour, Freya always told the tourists that from this point, if a person tripped and fell, that person could tumble all the way to the beach. Which was an exaggeration. Mostly.

Adam used the small towel hooked into his waistband to wipe the sweat off his face. Then disquiet began its slow crawl up his spine.

Someone had him under observation.

He glanced up the grassy hill toward the olive grove and stared. A glint, like someone stood in the trees’ shadows watching with binoculars. Watching him.

No. Not him. A peregrine falcon glided through the shredded clouds, and seagulls cawed and circled. Birders came from all over the word to view the richness of the Big Sur aviary life. As he watched, the glint disappeared. Perhaps the birder had spotted a tufted puffin. Adam felt an uncomfortable amount of relief in that: it showed a level of paranoia to imagine someone was watching him, but…

But. He had learned never to ignore his instincts. The hard way, of course.

He stepped into the restaurant doorway, and from across the restaurant he heard the loud snap of the continental waiter’s fingers and saw the properly suited Ludwig point at a small, isolated table in the back corner. Adam’s usual table.

Before Adam took a second step, he made an inventory of all possible entrances and exits, counted the number of occupants and assessed them as possible threats, and evaluated any available weapons. An old habit, it gave him peace of mind.

Three exits: front door, door to kitchen, door to the upper suites.

Mr. Kulshan sat by the windows, as was his wont. He liked the sun, and he lived to people-watch. Why not? He was in his midnineties. What else had he to do?

In the conference room, behind an open door, reserved for a business breakfast, was a long table with places set for twenty people.

A young couple, tourists by the look of them, held hands on the table and smiled into each other’s eyes.

Nice. Really nice to know young love still existed.

There, her back against the opposite wall, was an actress. Obviously an actress. She had possibly arrived for breakfast, or to stay in one of the suites. Celebrities visits happened often enough that most of the town was blasé, although the occasional scuffle with the paparazzi did lend interest to the village’s tranquil days.

She wasn’t pretty. Her face was too angular, her mouth too wide, her chin too determined. She was reading through a stack of papers and using a marker to highlight and a ballpoint to make notes… And she wore glasses. Not casual I need a little visual assistance glasses. These were Coke-bottle bottoms set in lime-green frames.

Interesting: Why had an actress not had laser surgery? Not that it mattered. Behind those glasses her brown eyes sparked with life, interest and humor, although he didn’t understand how someone could convey all that while never looking up. She had shampoo-commercial hair—long, dark, wavy, shining—and when she caught it in her hand and shoved it over one shoulder, he felt his breath catch.

A gravelly voice interrupted a moment that had gone on too long and revealed too clearly how Adam’s isolation had affected him. “Hey, you. Boy! Come here.” Mr. Kulshan beckoned. Mr. Kulshan, who had once been tall, sturdy and handsome. Then the jaws of old age had seized him, gnawed him down to a bent-shouldered, skinny old man.

Adam lifted a finger to Ludwig, indicating breakfast would have to wait.

Ludwig glowered. Maybe his name was suggestive, but the man looked like Ludwig van Beethoven: rough, wild, wavy hair, dark brooding eyes under bushy eyebrows, pouty lips, cleft in the chin. He seldom talked and never smiled. Most people were afraid of him.

Adam was not. He walked to Mr. Kulshan’s table and took a seat opposite the old man. “What can I do for you, sir?”

“Don’t call me sir. I told you, call me K.H.”

Adam didn’t call people by their first names. That encouraged friendliness.

“If you can’t do that, call me Kulshan.” With his fork, the old guy stabbed a lump of breaded something and handed it to Adam. “What do you think this is?”

Adam had traveled the world, learned to eat what was offered, so he took the fork, sniffed the lump and nibbled a corner. “I believe it’s fried sweetbread.”

Mr. Kulshan made a gagging noise. “My grandmother made us eat sweetbread.” He bit it off the end of the fork. “This isn’t as awful as hers.” With loathing, he said, “This is Frenchie food.”

“Señor Alfonso is Spanish.”

Mr. Kulshan ignored Adam for all he was worth. “Next thing you know, this Alfonso will be scraping snails off the sidewalk and calling it escargots.”

“Actually…” Adam caught the twinkle in Mr. Kulshan’s eyes and stood. “Fine. Pull my chain. I’m going to have breakfast.”

Mr. Kulshan caught his wrist. “Have you heard what Caltrans is doing about the washout?” He referred to the California Department of Transportation and their attempts to repair the Pacific Coast Highway and open it to traffic.

“No. What?”

“Nothing!” Mr. Kulshan cackled wildly, then nodded at the actress. “The girl. Isn’t she something? Built like a brick shithouse.”

Interested, Adam settled back into the chair. “Who is she?”

“Don’t you ever read People magazine? That’s Clarice Burbage. She’s set to star in the modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s…um…one of Shakespeare’s plays. Who cares? She’ll play a king. Or something. That’s the script she’s reading.”

Clarice looked up as if she’d heard them—which she had, because Mr. Kulshan wore hearing aids that didn’t work well enough to compensate for his hearing loss—and smiled and nodded genially.

Mr. Kulshan grinned at her. “Hi, Clarice. Loved you in Inferno!”

“Thank you, K.H.” She projected her voice so he could hear her.

Mr. Kulshan shot Adam a triumphant look that clearly said See? Clarice Burbage calls me by my first name.

The actress-distraction was why the two men were surprised when the door opened and a middle-aged, handsome, casually dressed woman with cropped red hair walked in.

Mr. Kulshan made a sound of disgust. “Her.”

Excerpted from Point Last Seen by Christina Dodd. Copyright © 2022 by Christina Dodd. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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Author Bio

New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd writes “edge-of-the-seat suspense” (Iris Johansen) with “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd” (ALA Booklist). Her fifty-eight books have been called “scary, sexy, and smartly written” by Booklist and, much to her mother’s delight, Dodd was once a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle. Enter Christina’s worlds and join her mailing list at www.christinadodd.com.

Social Media Links

Author Website

Twitter: @ChristinaDodd

Facebook: Christina Dodd

Instagram: @christinadoddbooks

Goodreads

Purchase Links

BookShop.org

Harlequin

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LIBRARIAN SPY: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin on this HTP Books Summer 2022 Historical Fiction Blog Tour.

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

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Book Summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London comes a moving new novel inspired by the true history of America’s library spies of World War II.

Ava thought her job as a librarian at the Library of Congress would mean a quiet, routine existence. But an unexpected offer from the US military has brought her to Lisbon with a new mission: posing as a librarian while working undercover as a spy gathering intelligence.

Meanwhile, in occupied France, Elaine has begun an apprenticeship at a printing press run by members of the Resistance. It’s a job usually reserved for men, but in the war, those rules have been forgotten. Yet she knows that the Nazis are searching for the press and its printer in order to silence them.

As the battle in Europe rages, Ava and Elaine find themselves connecting through coded messages and discovering hope in the face of war.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58787295-the-librarian-spy?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=VNeCPKaWp8&rank=1

The Librarian Spy

Author: Madeline Martin

ISBN: 9781335427465

Publication Date: July 26, 2022

Publisher: Hanover Square Press

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE LIBRARIAN SPY: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin is an emotional historical fiction story featuring two young women, one American and one French during WWII who understand the power of the written word during a world gone mad. The author does not shy away from the sacrifice, tragedy, and horror of the war, so keep the tissues close.

Ava loves her job in the Rare Books department in the Library of Congress. Fluent in English, French and German, she is offered a position by the US military in the Lisbon embassy gathering periodicals, copying them to microfilm and sending them back to Washington D.C. to be disseminated. With her brother in the Army, she feels a duty to help in any way she is able.

In Lyon, France, Elaine discovers her husband has been keeping a secret from her. She has fought with him to allow her to help the Resistance. When he is arrested, she learns the truth. Elaine is willing to do anything to help so she is taught how to use the printing presses that put out the truth of their occupation. Rigid curfews, starvation rations and the possibility of arrest, imprisonment, deportation, and death are ever present.

The two cross paths through Elaine’s paper as she asks for help in a coded message to assist a Jewish mother and child escape. Ava feels for the refugees and after not being able to help an older man she becomes fond of; she is determined to assist this mother and child. Amongst all the loss and death, Ava and Elaine’s stories become intertwined.

I loved this book! Both Elaine and Ava understood the importance of what they were doing even with the terrible loss of friends and family during a horrific time in history. All the characters in this story were realistically portrayed and believable. Ms. Martin did an excellent job of integrating true stories of the horrors perpetrated by Klaus Barbie and his atrocities in Lyon against innocents and the Resistance, the Allied and Nazi covert spies in Portugal and America’s shame in ignoring the plight of the Jewish refugees. For all the HEA moments at the end of this story, there are realistic scenes of the horrors of war depicted in this book.

I highly recommend this WWII historical fiction!

***

Excerpt

April 1943

Washington, DC

There was nothing Ava Harper loved more than the smell of old books. The musty scent of aging paper and stale ink took one on a journey through candlelit rooms of manors set amid verdant hills or ancient castles with turrets that stretched up to the vast, unknown heavens. These were tomes once cradled in the spread palms of forefathers, pored over by scholars, devoured by students with a rapacious appetite for learning. In those fragrant, yellowed pages were stories of the past and eternal knowledge.

It was a fortunate thing indeed she was offered a job in the Rare Book Room at the Library of Congress where the archaic aroma of history was forever present.

She strode through the middle of three arches to where the neat rows of tables ran parallel to one another and carefully gathered a stack of rare books in her arms. They were different sizes and weights, their covers worn and pages uneven at the edges, and yet somehow the pile seemed to fit together like the perfect puzzle. Regardless of the patron who left them after having requested far more than was necessary for an afternoon’s perusal.

Their eyes were bigger than their brains. It was what her brother, Daniel, had once proclaimed after Ava groused about the common phenomena—one she herself had been guilty of—when he was home on leave.

Ever since, the phrase ran through her thoughts on each encounter of an abandoned collection. Not that it was the fault of the patron. The philosophical greats of old wouldn’t be able to glean that much information in an afternoon. But she liked the expression regardless and how it always made her recall Daniel’s laughing gaze as he said it.

They’d both inherited their mother’s moss green eyes, though Ava’s never managed to achieve that same sparkle of mirth so characteristic of her older brother.

A glance at her watch confirmed it was almost noon. A knot tightened in her stomach as she recalled her brief chat with Mr. MacLeish earlier that day. A meeting with the Librarian of Congress was no regular occurrence, especially when it was followed by the scrawl of an address on a slip of paper and the promise of a new opportunity that would suit her.

Whatever it was, she doubted it would fit her better than her position in the Rare Book Room. She absorbed lessons from these ancient texts, which she squeezed out at whim to aid patrons unearth sought-after information. What could possibly appeal to her more?

Ava approached the last table at the right and gently closed La Maison Reglée, the worn leather cover smooth as butter beneath her fingertips. The seventeenth century book was one of the many gastronomic texts donated from the Katherine Golden Bitting collection. She had been a marvel of a woman who utilized her knowledge in her roles at the Department of Agriculture and the American Canners Association.

Every book had a story and Ava was their keeper. To leave her place there would be like abandoning children.

Robert floated in on his pretentious cloud and surveyed the room with a critical eye. She clicked off the light lest she be subjected to the sardonic flattening of her coworker’s lips.

He held out his hand for La Maison Reglée, a look of irritation flickering over his face.

“I’ll put it away.” Ava hugged it to her chest. After all, he didn’t even read French. He couldn’t appreciate it as she did.

She returned the tome to its collection, the family reunited once more, and left the opulence of the library. The crisp spring DC air embraced her as she caught the streetcar toward the address printed in the Librarian of Congress’s own hand.

Ava arrived at 2430 E Street, NW ten minutes before her appointment, which turned out to be beneficial considering the hoops she had to jump through to enter. A stern man, whose expression did not alter through their exchange, confronted her at a guardhouse upon entry. Apparently, he had no more understanding of the meeting than she.

Once finally allowed in, she followed a path toward a large white-columned building.

Ava snapped the lid on her overactive imagination lest it get the better of her—which it often did—and forced herself onward. After being led through an open entryway and down a hall, she was left to sit in an office possessing no more than a desk and two hardbacked wooden chairs. They made the seats in the Rare Book Room seem comfortable by comparison. Clearly it was a place made only for interviews.

But for what?

Ava glanced at her watch. Whoever she was supposed to meet was ten minutes late. A pang of regret resonated through her at having left her book sitting on her dresser at home.

She had only recently started Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and was immediately drawn in to the thrill of a young woman swept into an unexpected romance. Ava’s bookmark rested temptingly upon the newly married couple’s entrance to Manderley, the estate in Cornwall.

The door to the office flew open and a man whisked in wearing a gray, efficient Victory suit—single breasted with narrow lapels and absent any cuffs or pocket flaps—fashioned with as little fabric as was possible. He settled behind the desk. “I’m Charles Edmunds, secretary to General William Donovan. You’re Ava Harper?”

The only name familiar of the three was her own. “I am.”

He opened a file, sifted through a few papers, and handed her a stack. “Sign these.”

“What are they?” She skimmed over them and was met with legal jargon.

“Confidentiality agreements.”

“I won’t sign anything I don’t read fully.” She lifted the pile.

The text was drier than the content of some of the more lackluster rare books at the Library of Congress. Regardless, she scoured every word while Mr. Edmunds glared irritably at her, as if he could will her to sign with his eyes. He couldn’t, of course. She waited ten minutes for his arrival; he could wait while she saw what she was getting herself into.

Everything indicated she would not share what was discussed in the room about her potential job opportunity. It was nothing all too damning and so she signed, much to the great, exhaling impatience of Mr. Edmunds.

“You speak German and French.” He peered at her over a pair of black-rimmed glasses, his brown eyes probing.

“My father was something of a linguist. I couldn’t help but pick them up.” A visceral ache stabbed at her chest as a memory flitted through her mind from years ago—her father switching to German in his excitement for an upcoming trip with her mother for their twenty-year anniversary. That trip. The one from which her parents had never returned.

“And you’ve worked with photographing microfilm.” Mr. Edmunds lifted his brows.

A frown of uncertainty tugged at her lips. When she first started at the Library of Congress, her duties had been more in the area of archival than a typical librarian role as she microfilmed a series of old newspapers that time was slowly eroding. “I have, yes.”

“Your government needs you,” he stated in a matter-of-fact manner that broached no argument. “You are invited to join the Office of Strategic Services—the OSS—under the information gathering program called the Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications.”

Her mind spun around to make sense of what he’d just said, but her mouth flew open to offer its own knee-jerk opinion. “That’s quite the mouthful.”

“IDC for short,” he replied without hesitation or humor. “It’s a covert operation obtaining information from newspapers and texts in neutral territories to help us gather intel on the Nazis.”

“Would I require training?” she asked, unsure how knowing German equipped her to spy on them.

“You have all the training you need as I understand it.”

He began to reassemble the file in front of him. “You would go to Lisbon.”

“In Portugal?”

He paused. “It is the only Lisbon of which I am aware, yes.”

No doubt she would have to get there by plane. A shiver threatened to squeeze down her spine, but she repressed it. “Why am I being recommended for this?”

“Your ability to speak French and German.” Mr. Edmunds held up his forefinger. “You know how to use microfilm.” He ticked off another finger. “Fred Kilgour recommends your keen intellect.” There went another finger.

That was a name she recognized.

She aided Fred the prior year when he was microfilming foreign publications for the Harvard University Library. After the months she’d spent doing as much for the Library of Congress, the process had been easy to share, and he had been a quick learner.

“And you’re pretty.” Mr. Edmunds sat back in his chair, the final point made.

The compliment was as unwarranted in such a setting as it was unwelcome. “What does my appearance have to do with any of this?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Beauties like yourself can get what they want when they want it. Except when you scowl like that.” He nodded his chin up. “You should smile more, Dollface.”

That was about enough.

“I did not graduate top of my class from Pratt and obtain a much sought-after position at the Library of Congress to be called ‘Dollface.’” She pushed up to standing.

“And you’ve got steel in that spine, Miss Harper.” Mr. Edmunds ticked the last finger.

She opened her mouth to retort, but he continued. “We need this information so we best know how to fight the  Krauts. The sooner we have these details, the sooner this war can be over.”

She remained where she stood to listen a little longer. No doubt he knew she would.

“You have a brother,” he went on. “Daniel Harper, staff sergeant of C Company in Second Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division.”

The Airborne Division. Her brother had run toward the fear of airplanes despite her swearing off them.

“That’s correct,” she said tightly. Daniel would never have been in the Army were it not for her. He would be an engineer, the way he’d always wanted.

Mr. Edmunds took off his glasses and met her gaze with his small, naked eyes. “Don’t you want him to come home sooner?”

It was a dirty question meant to slice deep.

And it worked.

The longer the war continued, the greater Daniel’s risk of being killed or wounded. 

She’d done everything she could to offer aid. When the ration was only voluntary, she had complied long before it became law. She gave blood every few months, as soon as she was cleared to do so again. Rather than dance and drink at the Elk Club like her roommates, Ava spent all her spare time in the Production Corps with the Red Cross, repairing uniforms, rolling bandages, and doing whatever was asked of her to help their men abroad.

She even wore red lipstick on a regular basis, springing for the costly tube of Elizabeth Arden’s Victory Red, the civilian counterpart to the Montezuma Red servicewomen were issued. Ruby lips were a derisive biting of the thumb at Hitler’s war on made-up women. And she would do anything to bite her thumb at that tyrant. 

Likely Mr. Edmunds was aware of all this.

“You will be doing genuine work in Lisbon that can help bring your brother and all our boys home.” Mr. Edmunds got to his feet and held out his hand, a salesman with a silver tongue, ready to seal the deal. “Are you in?”

Ava looked at his hand. His fingers were stubby and thick, his nails short and well-manicured.

“I would have to go on an airplane, I’m assuming.”

“You wouldn’t have to jump out.” He winked.

Her greatest fear realized.

But Daniel had done far more for her.

It was a single plane ride to get to Lisbon. One measly takeoff and landing with a lot of airtime in between. The bottoms of her feet tingled, and a nauseous swirl dipped in her belly.

This was by far the least she could do to help him as well as every other US service member. Not just the men, but also the women whose roles were often equally as dangerous.

She lifted her chin, leveling her own stare right back. “Don’t ever call me ‘Dollface’ again.”

“You got it, Miss Harper,” he replied.

She extended her hand toward him and clasped his with a firm grip, the way her father had taught  her. “I’m in.”

He grinned. “Welcome aboard.”

***

Author Bio

Madeline Martin is a New York Times and international bestselling author of historical fiction novels and historical romance. She lives in sunny Florida with her two daughters, two incredibly spoiled cats and a husband so wonderful he’s been dubbed Mr. Awesome. She is a die-hard history lover who will happily lose herself in research any day. When she’s not writing, researching or ‘moming’, you can find her spending time with her family at Disney or sneaking a couple spoonfuls of Nutella while laughing over cat videos. She also loves travel, attributing her fascination with history to having spent most of her childhood as an Army brat in Germany.

Social Media Links

Author Website

Twitter: @MadelineMMartin 

Facebook: @MadelineMartinAuthor

 Instagram: @madelinemmartin

Goodreads

Purchase Links

San Marco Books, Signed Copies for Preorders!

Story & Song Books, Signed Copies for Preorders!

BookShop.org

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Book Review: The Secret Witness by Victor Methos

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE SECRET WITNESS (Shepard & Gray Book #1) by Victor Methos is the exciting start to a new crime thriller series set in Utah and featuring a former prosecutor and the new female county sheriff. This book starts off with a bang and keeps the chills and twists coming.

After three vicious murders, Tooele County Sheriff Elizabeth Gray believes she is facing the same serial killer her father, the former sheriff was never able to catch. The Reaper was responsible for a string of vicious murders without leaving any evidence. Elizabeth calls on the friend and retired prosecutor her father trusted while working The Reaper case.

Former prosecutor Solomon Shepard knows about psychopathy. He wrote a preeminent reference book on the subject. He is retired from the Major Crimes prosecutor’s office after a courtroom attack and has become almost a hermit in his apartment. Elizabeth asks for help on the one case that has always haunted Solomon and is the only one with the ability to pull him back into his old life.

As Shepard and Gray investigate the body count grows and they are not sure if they are dealing with the return of the original serial killer or a copycat. They soon find themselves face-to-face with a killer neither expected.

I loved this thriller! The main characters were fully drawn with interesting backstories and a chemistry that worked as well as their partnership. I am very glad this is the start of a series because I really am invested in these characters and looking forward to following them in future books. The subplot with Solomon’s neighbor was heartbreaking and I hate to say realistic. The killer was a surprise, but believable even without the surprise twist at the end. I am always interested in the Nature vs. Nurture psychological arguments in serial crime books. The plot moves at an even and fast pace throughout with plenty of twists and surprises to keep the reader turning the page.

I highly recommend this new crime thriller and I am looking forward to more books in this series!

***

About the Author

At the age of thirteen, when his best friend was interrogated by the police for over eight hours and confessed to a crime he didn’t commit, Victor Methos knew he would one day become a lawyer.

After graduating from law school at the University of Utah, Methos sharpened his teeth as a prosecutor for Salt Lake City before founding what would become the most successful criminal defense firm in Utah.

In ten years Methos conducted more than one hundred trials. One particular case stuck with him, and it eventually became the basis for his first major bestseller, The Neon Lawyer. Since that time, Methos has focused his work on legal thrillers and mysteries, earning a Harper Lee Prize for The Hallows and an Edgar nomination for Best Novel for his title A Gambler’s Jury. He currently splits his time between southern Utah and Las Vegas.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.victormethos.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victor.methos

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VictorMethos

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Hidden One by Linda Castillo

Book Description

The discovery of an Amish bishop’s remains leads chief of police Kate Burkholder to unearth a chilling secret in The Hidden One, a new thriller from bestselling author Linda Castillo.

Over a decade ago, beloved Amish bishop Ananias Stoltzfus disappeared without a trace. When skeletal remains showing evidence of foul play are unearthed, his disappearance becomes even more sinister.

The town’s elders arrive in Painters Mill to ask chief of police Kate Burkholder for help, but she quickly realizes she has a personal connection to the crime. The handsome Amish man who stands accused of the murder, Jonas Bowman, was Kate’s first love. Forced to confront a painful episode from her past, Kate travels to Pennsylvania’s Kishacoquillas Valley, where the Amish culture differs dramatically from the traditions she knows. Though Bishop Stoltzfus was highly respected, she soon hears about a dark side to this complex man. What was he hiding that resulted in his own brutal death?

Someone doesn’t want Kate asking questions. But even after being accosted and threatened in the dead of night, she refuses to back down. Is she too close to the case―and to Jonas―to see clearly? There’s a killer in the Valley who will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. Will they get to Kate before she can expose the truth? Or will the bishop’s secrets remain hidden forever?

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Hidden One by Linda Castillo proves why she is one of the best mystery writers.  She has done it again with a riveting plot and exceptional characters. In this novel, the main character, police chief Kate Burkholder, is taken out of her element and acting as a private investigator because she has no jurisdiction in the state where the murder took place.

This story allows readers to understand Kate’s earlier life, as she works out feelings from her past. Kate is approached by the Amish elders of Kish Valley Pennsylvania, asking her for assistance. They believe the local police have arrested the wrong person, Jonas Bowman, for murder.  His old muzzleloader was found next to the body and worse, he confessed to it being his gun. With a lot of circumstantial evidence, including the fact that Jonas accosted the dead bishop, Ananias Stoltzfus, the police arrest him.  Normally Kate would shrug it off, but she has a past relationship with Jonas.  He was her childhood friend, someone she confided in, and her first love.

Hoping that being a Chief of Police will give her an in with local law enforcement, she finds just the opposite.  The local police do not want her interfering, refuse to answer any questions, and want her to return to Painter’s Mill Ohio.  But she knows Jonas and feels deep in her heart that he would never kill anyone.  As the investigation progresses the persons of interest increase since the bishop had a very dark past and was cruel. Because there are also people who do not want her looking into the case, she is attacked multiple times. But the attacks make Kate even more determined to uncover the bishop’s secrets and the killer. As usual, the Kate Burkholder novels have compelling mysteries set in an Amish community. The story was engrossing and gripping with the bonus of finding out more of Kate’s childhood.

***

Author Interview

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

Linda Castillo: I wanted readers to get to know more of Kate and her personality.  To do this, I wrote the crime as a cold case. I did some dark research for this book regarding the backstory of the villain, Ananias Stalzfus. I loved the idea how Kate figured it out. Back in 2019 my good librarian friend, Denise, at the Dover library and I had lunch along with an Amish man named Mark.  He told me about the Kishacoquillas (Kish) Valley in central Pennsylvania and how the Amish there were “weird.”  I was very intrigued since what Amish dude says that about another Amish.

EC:  What is so different about the Kish Valley Amish?

LC:  It is an extremely diverse Amish population including the strict Swartzenruber Amish, with grey buggies. Another sect, the Byler Amish, had lemon yellow buggies.  The other type of Amish there is the Nebraska Amish. I had a scene in the book where Kate sees a buggy in the driveway that was colorful.

EC:  In your books you depict the Amish as having some traits as other people?

LC:  I wrote in this book, “The Amish are decent, hard-working people. They are good neighbors and good friends. All of that said, the Amish are not perfect. They’re human and they suffer with all the same failings as the rest of us.  They lose their temper.  They make mistakes. They behave badly.  They break the rules. Sometimes they break the law.”  I wanted to show that a culture should not be lumped into a box and pigeon-holed.

EC:  How did you get such detail about the action scenes where Kate is put through the ringer?

LC:  I had her beaten up, a car rammed her off the road, she was thrown into a raging river, and had hay bales thrown on her. My husband and I have three horses.  We load hay bales all the time.  This is where I thought about the hay scene. I love writing action and danger scenes. This is where my imagination comes into play.

EC:  How would you describe the bad bishop, Stalzfus?

LC:  He was a very wily individual. I did a lot of research on the medal that Kate discovered. This was a big clue on how he was responsible for the deaths of many, many people. He enjoys the power of running people’s lives, and if they do not follow his orders he ruins them through the Bann, excommunication, and silencing them. He is very strict, has tunnel vision, and he is stubborn.  Stalzfus enjoys being a bully, is vindictive, violent, and cruel. He also does not want attention drawn from the outside world.  He was a totalitarian person with complete control. 

EC:  How would you describe Jonas?

LC:  He is a very typical Amish man. He is charismatic, charming, persuasive, and a family man.

EC:  The relationship between Kate and Jonas?

LC:  They shared a teenage tragedy. They knew each other when she was twelve.  As she became a teenager when she was fifteen, he was nineteen. He was an adult, and she was underage.  He did not know about the trauma that happened to Kate when she was fourteen.  Without the trauma she might have stayed and married him, living the Amish life, and having children. They had a sad nostalgia for each other, but they were not going to give in to any past attraction.  When she looks at Jonas’ wife there is one point in the story where Kate thinks what might have been me. There was no jealousy and friction between Kate and Jonas’ wife.

EC:  Jonas understood Kate?

LC:  He always came to her defense. Even though he did not agree with her he knew she was going to walk a hard road because she stood up for herself and got into fights. Even though he is a pacifist, part of him admired her actions. He accepted who she was, knowing she was unlike most Amish girls who were described as meek.  Kate was never meek.  He treated her as an equal. He knew Kate was a force to be reckoned with.  Kate sensed he understood her and that she was going to be true to herself. He accepted her even after she left the Amish.

EC:  The disaster Kate went through molded her personality?

LC:  She became a non-conformist and is not a pacifist. She was able to overcome any bitterness toward the Amish.  She can move beyond it to where she has a healthy respect for the Amish now. This is where her head is.  She is not a quitter, hard-headed, and a sore loser.

EC:  Why have Kate play hockey and baseball as a young teenager?

LC:  I love those scenes.  I was a tomboy as a child. It is a great feeling to hit a homerun with an aluminum Louisville slugger bat.  You hear that “tank” and say, “yeah a homerun.” By playing these sports I think there were some hints that Kate would not have stayed Amish even if she did not have the trauma at fourteen. I really enjoy writing the scene with Kate and the baseball diamond.

EC:  Any movie or TV series?

LC:  Entertainment One bought an option. They have two years to pursue making a feature film or a series.

EC:  The next book?

LC:  The likely title will be An Evil Heart, coming out this time next year. Kate is now back at Painter’s Mill in Ohio. There is an unusual murder and Kate is trying to figure out what happened.  There are some good twists.

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.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEATH AND THE CONJUROR (Joseph Spector Book #1) by Tom Mead on this Partners In Crime Virtual Blog Tour.

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

***

Book Description

A magician-turned-sleuth in pre-war London solves three impossible crimes

In 1930s London, celebrity psychiatrist Anselm Rees is discovered dead in his locked study, and there seems to be no way that a killer could have escaped unseen. There are no clues, no witnesses, and no evidence of the murder weapon. Stumped by the confounding scene, the Scotland Yard detective on the case calls on retired stage magician-turned-part-time sleuth Joseph Spector. For who better to make sense of the impossible than one who traffics in illusions?

Spector has a knack for explaining the inexplicable, but even he finds that there is more to this mystery than meets the eye. As he and the Inspector interview the colorful cast of suspects among the psychiatrist’s patients and household, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets―or motives for murder. When the investigation dovetails into that of an apparently-impossible theft, the detectives consider the possibility that the two transgressions are related. And when a second murder occurs, this time in an impenetrable elevator, they realize that the crime wave will become even more deadly unless they can catch the culprit soon.

A tribute to the classic golden-age whodunnit, when crime fiction was a battle of wits between writer and reader, Death and the Conjuror joins its macabre atmosphere, period detail, and vividly-drawn characters with a meticulously-constructed fair play puzzle. Its baffling plot will enthrall readers of mystery icons such as Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr, modern masters like Anthony Horowitz and Elly Griffiths, or anyone who appreciates a good mystery.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59580638-death-and-the-conjuror?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=hBFSTmQyNy&rank=1

Death and the Conjuror

Genre: Historical Mystery
Published by: Mysterious Press
Publication Date: July 12th 2022
Number of Pages: 254
ISBN: 1613163193 (ISBN13: 9781613163191)
Series: Joseph Spector #1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

DEATH AND THE CONJUROR (Joseph Spector Book #1) by Tom Mead is an entertaining throwback historical locked-door mystery set in 1930’s London and featuring a retired stage magician turned amateur sleuth.

Joseph Spector has retired from his job of mystifying audiences with his magical illusions, but still is available for consultation to his friend, Inspector George Flint from Scotland yard for assistance when the scene of a murder seems impossible. Psychiatrist Anselm Rees in found murdered in his home office by his daughter and one of his patients. The door and windows were locked and there was nowhere for escape, so Flint takes this impossible case to Spector for his assistance.

There are many suspects and a lot of misdirection in this locked-room mystery. When a second murder occurs, Spector must sort the truths from illusions for this murderer to be brought to justice.

This was an enjoyable read which reminded me of my love of the old style of murder mysteries especially Christies’ Poirot series. Spector was a wonderful character with his past profession being the perfect set-up to be of use to Inspector Flint. I also enjoyed when Spector explained how some of his illusions and slight-of-hand tricks were accomplished. All the suspects and secondary characters were well drawn to keep me guessing all the way to the end. The plot was well paced and full of red herrings and twists.

This is the first book in new this historical mystery series and I will be looking out for more stories featuring Spector in the future.

***

Excerpt

Olive already had the phone in her hand. “Two three one, Dollis Hill,” she announced. “Dr. Anselm Rees has been murdered.”

While she provided a few scant details, she looked around the room and noticed something.

“The windows are locked,” she said as she hung up the phone.

“Mm?” Della sounded startled.

“The windows. They’re locked on the inside.” To prove this, she gripped one of the handles and rattled it. It would not move, and the key protruded from the lock.

“So?”

“Then how did the killer get away?”

“What do you mean?”

“He can’t have come out through the hall. I was there the whole time. And not five minutes ago—not five minutes—I can tell you that the doctor was alive and well in this room because I heard him talking on the telephone.”

Della thought about this. “It can’t be locked.” She reached out and tried the handle for herself. But the windows did not budge.

“It’s locked on the inside,” said Olive, “just like the door.”

Della turned and looked at the corpse. He had sunk down in the chair like an unmanned hand puppet.

In the far corner of the room lay the wooden trunk. Olive caught Della’s eye and nodded toward it. Della frowned incredulously. Olive shrugged, as if to say, Where else would he be?

The two women crept across the soft plush carpet toward the trunk. Olive looked at Della and held a finger to her lips. She seized the poker from the fireplace and raised it above her head. Then she gave Della a quick nod.

Della leaned forward and wrenched open the trunk.

Olive let fly a fierce war cry and swung the poker like a tennis racquet. But all she hit was empty air. The two women peered inside the trunk. It was perfectly empty.

Olive led the way to the kitchen—but not before pulling shut the study door behind her, sealing in the late Dr. Rees once again.

They both felt slightly better after a tot of brandy. No less horrified, but more prepared to deal with the practicalities of the situation.

“What I don’t understand,” Della said, “is where the killer could have gone.”

“Nowhere,” said Olive. “There was nowhere for him to go.”

***Excerpt from Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead. Copyright 2022 by Tom Mead. Reproduced with permission from Tom Mead. All rights reserved.

***

Author Bio

Tom Mead is a UK crime fiction author specialising in locked-room mysteries. He is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association, International Thriller Writers, and the Society of Authors. He is a prolific author of short fiction, and recently his story “Heatwave” was included in THE BEST MYSTERY STORIES OF THE YEAR 2021, edited by Lee Child. DEATH AND THE CONJUROR is his first novel.

Social Media Links

TomMeadAuthor.com
Goodreads
BookBub
Twitter – @TomMeadAuthor
Facebook – @tommeadauthor

Plus, join the Instagram – #TomMead Party 😀

Purchase Links

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | The Mysterious Bookshop

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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

https://kingsumo.com/g/ejlwyh/death-and-the-conjuror-by-tom-mead